There is much that remains the same – women artistes are paid way less than their male counterparts, women are frequently objectified and are relegated to mother/older sister/ significant friend roles the moment they cross a certain age threshold, whereas men in their fifties continue to play leading roles. But there is also much that has changed for women in Bollywood; changed for the better.
Sushmita Sen feels that it’s a great time for women actors and that many films centred around women are now being made. She also feels that audiences are much more accepting now of different kinds of cinema.
Look at some films made in the past few years that are centred around women, have women in leading roles or which tell the story of women – Queen, Kahaani, Gulab Gang, Mary Kom, Neerja, Sarabjit, Chalk and Duster, No one Killed Jessica, Mardaani, Highway, Pink, Dear Zindagi and so many others.
According to Bollywood patriarch Amitabh Bachchan, there are more women on film sets now than ever before. Performing many more roles and looking after many filmmaking and technical aspects, it’s really different today than it was earlier he feels. He recalls an earlier time when there would be only two women on set: “the heroine and her mother”.
Where earlier an actress would marry and subsequently disappear from the silver screen, women no longer let marriage become a career killer. Actors such as Sridevi, Kajol, Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor-Khan, Raveena Tandon, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor, Vidya Balan and many others have continued to work post marriage.
No longer is marriage and motherhood hidden away. Women continue to work with babies on the way and after. Kareena Kapoor Khan chose to appear on the ramp while pregnant last year and then chose to be a showstopper at the recent Lakme fashion week, scant weeks after the delivery of her baby boy.
Sonakshi Sinha also feels that now is a good time to be a girl in the Indian film industry. With more roles being written for women, the Akira actress feels that the gender gap in the film industry is narrowing in terms of pay and roles as well.
Though Indian leading men are rather less inclined to leave their comfort zones, Indian leading women are creating quite a stir abroad. With Deepika Padukone doing a major Hollywood film and Priyanka Chopra doing a film and a major TV show in the United States, these women are experimenting with their own craft and giving greater visibility to Indian cinema as well.
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