From Aitraaz To Mimi: 5 Bollywood Films & Their Take On Abortion

The Supreme Court of India ruled on September 29 that single and unmarried women with pregnancies between 20 and 24 weeks are entitled to access the same safe and legal abortion care as married women. After the amendment in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, women have now been allowed to seek safe abortion services due to contraceptive failure.

With the recent expansion of abortion rights in India, we are remembering Priyanka Chopra’s coming-of-age character of Sonia in the 2004 Hindi film Aitraaz who took an unapologetic stand on abortion in the Bollywood film. From Aitraaz to Mimi, here is a look at five Bollywood films that dealt with abortion over the decade.

Aitraaz

Starring Priyanka Chopra, Akshay Kumar, and Kareena Kapoor, the 2004 romantic drama film Aitraaz was a courtroom drama. Chopra's character of Sonia was ambitious, strong-headed, and driven. She decided to abort the child because a child will stand in the way of her power, career, and fortune at that age.

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Zeher

The 2005 mystery thriller film Zeher stars Shamita Shetty and Emraan Hashmi in the lead. In the film, Shetty’s character Sonia Mehra, a Special Investigating Officer refuses to carry a child because she wants to pursue her career at that point in life.

Raazi

While the 2018 spy thriller film Raazi starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal was one of the biggest box-office hits of the year, it had a problematic stand on abortion. Bhatt plays a 20-year-old Pakistani spy (Bhatt) who married into a powerful Pakistani family in order to spy for India. After running down a worker with a car in order to keep her cover of a RAW agent, she goes through emotional distress. On returning to India after the completion of the mission, she learns of her pregnancy and says that she cannot commit another ‘murder’ referring to abortion.

Good Newwz

The 2019 Hindi comedy drama film Good Newwz stars Kareena Kapoor and Akshay Kumar in the lead. The film revolves around vitro fertilisation (IVF), a fertility treatment that increases the chance of pregnany. The film also featurs a husband who forces his wife to get an abortion without her consent. However, when they reach the hospital to get an abortion, the doctor's monologue changes their minds.

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Mimi

The recently release comedy-drama film Mimi starring Kriti Sanon revolves around surrogacy. While the film featured Sanon delivering a monologue on how aborting or ‘killing’ a baby in the womb is wrong, it also depicts the plight of a surrogate woman who got attached to the child in her womb.

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