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Understanding gender disparity in Bollywood's great 'comeback'

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Gautam Chintamani
Gautam ChintamaniOct 27, 2018 | 12:32

Understanding gender disparity in Bollywood's great 'comeback'

Unlike male stars who are called selective or choosy when they decide to do a film every two or three years, women stars are categorised to be on a comeback trail if similar periods of inactivity marks the space between two releases. The recently released Helicopter Eela (2018) is yet another example of this disparity that puts undue focus on any film where a traditional male lead is missing.

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The reactions to Helicopter Eela might be bad but that’s largely due to a lacklustre narrative or bad execution but because the film was seen as a comeback of sorts, and therefore, anything less than stupendous box office run would be seen as a great failure.

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The reactions to Helicopter Eela might be bad but that’s largely due to a lacklustre narrative or bad execution. (Photo: Screengrab)

Male domination

The reason for this disparity finds its genesis in the fact that popular Hindi cinema has always been a male-dominated terrain both in front as well as behind the camera. When compared to the male stars, the women rarely got as well-etched roles as frequently, and later when they turned to production they had to ensure the presence of a big male box-office name in order to make the project feasible.

This attitude is so ingrained that it had come to be seen as a given. A few years ago when Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005) released the film’s lead Aamir Khan had not had a release for almost four years since 2001’s Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai.

The film was never pitched as a comeback vehicle for Khan but when the same producer, Yash Raj Films, made Fanaa (2006) with Khan and Kajol, the film was also suggested to be a comeback of the latter, who was returning after Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham(2001).

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One can understand that a Sridevi returning to the screen after 15 years in English Vinglish (2012) is a bonafide comeback but a Rani Mukerji featuring in Mardaani (2014) is hardly the same considering that Mukerji did films like Talaash (2012), Aiyyaa (2012) and No One Killed Jessica (2011). It was the same with Madhuri Dixit’s Aaja Nachle (2007) that came after a gap of five years of being away from the arclight and the tradition has continued even with her next couple of films Dedh Ishqiya (2014) or Gulaab Gang (2014).

Age factor for ladies

The only difference between a Mukerji before and after Mardaani was her marital status or Dixit taking a break ostensibly to be with her family. These "milestones" have had unnecessary implications attached for women stars in Hindi films.

There are other reasons as well for leading ladies in popular Hindi cinema to reduce their output once they cross a certain stature and age. There is no denying that the unfairness of the system had led to them having a much shorter shelf life than their male contemporaries, but the lack of a half decent role coming their way, too, has a part to play.

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The reason for a typical hero to reduce films after a certain point can easily be attributed to a realisation that how long can he play the same character without driving the fans away — Rajinikanth, Salman Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Govinda, et al.

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The reason for this disparity finds its genesis in the fact that popular Hindi cinema has always been a male-dominated terrain. (Photo: Screengrab)

Believable characters

For female stars, in addition to everything else, it is also the abject lack of believable characters to play through the course of their careers. In the end, somewhere it boils down to characters that don’t seem like cardboard cut-outs. A few of the male superstars such as Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan have added some semblance of acceptance or even a degree of respectability to the most idiotic and banal characters.

This ability has led to a tag of greatness being attached to their names, which is both an inspiration and challenge for writers and filmmakers to come up with great roles for them every now and then. Some of their female contemporaries such as Smita Patil and Sridevi did that nearly every time they faced the camera.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Last updated: October 27, 2018 | 12:32
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