Bollywood has had plenty of Bromance films over the years – Sholay’s Jai Veeru, Dil Chahta Hai’s Akash, Sid and Sameer, various bromance films starring Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan, 3 Idiot’s Rancho Raju and Farhan, Gunday’s Bikram and Bala, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’s Arjun, Kabir and Imran – the list is long indeed. On the other side of the gender divide, Bollywood has little or nothing to show. Films starring gal pals as leads are virtually nonexistent; though in the last year films such as Parched and Lipstick under My Burkha did buck the trend. New movies such as Jia aur Jia, Veere di Wedding appear to doing the same.
The movie starring Kalki Kochelin and Richa Chaddha a film centered around two female protagonists. The men in the film directed by Howard Rosemeyer appear to be strictly incidental.
It’s made Bollywood years to make a film like this
This is a road trip film and unusually for Bollywood, this is a road trip that the girls take. To the girl bonding thing is even more unusual for Bollywood. There are many bromance movies; plenty of bromance songs like yeh dosti, hum nahi todenge or Salamat rahe dostana hamara but it has taken Bollywood this long to delve into the female friendship genre.
The reviews of Jia aur Jia are not very promising but the movie is important nevertheless. It stars two of India’s most talented and unconventional women actors. The story pivots on their friendship and not the usual girls-fighting- over-one- guy, jealousy trope. The girls drink and party together, have themselves some adventures, share and bond. Hopefully the movie will pave the way for more of the same genre.
The movie is touted as the comeback vehicle for Kareena Kapoor post motherhood. What makes it interesting however is its promising ensemble cast consisting of Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar, Sikha Talsania and Sumeet Vyas.
This is highly unusual as well – female oriented films that have been made thus far have usually been centred around some serious topic or women’s issues about which awareness needs to be raised. This one promises to be irreverent, funny and enjoyable.
...Female oriented films won’t be such a rarity. Perhaps one day producers and film makers will not be hesitant to experiment and will embrace the genre that is currently seen to be risky and not exactly bankable. Hollywood has given us some genuine female buddy films such as Thelma and Louise. More recently gender swapped remakes have made an appearance: we’ve had women Ghostbusters, and Ocean's Eight, a female equivalent of the earlier heist films. So, should be expect a Dil Chahta Hai with an all girl cast or a 3 Idiot’s where all the idiots are women, a Gunday with female gangsters or a Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara where it’s the women who take a trip to explore not only a new country but also their relationships with each other? Maybe one day!
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