5 Women Writers Changing The Narrative One Bollywood Film At A Time

For ages, we have had male dominance in every department of the Hindi film industry and it has time and again reflected on the women characters. Conversations have always prevailed regarding the male gaze in Hindi films as the women characters are usually portrayed in a way men want to see. There have been very few representations of women who are real and robust.

But, times are changing and so is the industry. Women are excelling in all spectrums of life. From winning first-ever gold medals for the country in international games to racing on tracks to shattering age and gender stereotypes, women are creating history and doing it all.

It is visibly reflected in Hindi cinema with the varied roles portrayed by the likes of Neena Gupta (in Badhai Ho), Shefali Shah (in Ajeeb Dastaans or Darlings), Ratna Pathak Shah in (Lipstick Under My Burkha), Konkona Sen Sharma (in Ajeeb Dastaans), Farukh Jaffer (in Gulabo Sitabo) and Alia Bhatt (in Raazi and Darlings). Hindi cinema now portrays women with sexual desires, independence; they are single mothers, they have careers, they are women who are strong and fight for their rights and properties.

From Sushmita Sen’s role in Main Hoon Naa to Shobhita Dhulipala in Made In Heaven, women have evolved in Hindi cinema and are growing stronger and more beautiful with each film written or directed by women themselves. Changing women’s narrative in Hindi cinema are these five women.

Alankrita Srivastava

Alankrita Srivastava is the writer and director of films like Lipstick Under My Burkha, Made In Heaven, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, Bombay Begums, and Modern Love: Mumbai, among several other films. All of these films and shows have one after another exceptional women characters who are careeristic, have sexual desires, are independent, and women who don’t dress to satisfy male fantasies. The women in these films are neither damsels in distress nor waiting for knights in shining armour to save them.

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Juhi Chaturvedi

Characters like Piku (played by Deepika Padukone in the film of the same name) and Fatima Begum (played by late actor Farukh Jaffer in Gulabo Sitabo) are written by Juhi Chaturvedi. Piku is an independent woman in her 30s who doesn’t want to get married but is dedicated to her career and taking care of her ailing father. Piku fights with her driver almost every day on her way to the office, drinks wine, and dances in her room at the end of a hectic day and her world revolves around her father, a character that is relatable and real. While Jaffer is a 90-something woman who gets her maid to deck her up every day, is the owner of Fatima Mahal, and has plans to elope with her lover even at her age.

Meghna Gulzar

Meghna Gulzar rose to fame with films like Alia Bhatt starrer Raazi and Deepika Padukone starrer Chhapaak. While Raazi was a spy thriller film that portrayed a woman spy as a protagonist who loses it all to fight for her country, Chhapaak is a biographical film based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal.

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Gazal Dhaliwal

Gazal Dhaliwal is the writer of the 2017 Hindi film Qarib Qarib Singlle starring late actor Irrfan Khan and Malayalam actor Parvathy Thiruvothu. In the film, Parvathy’s character is a 35-year-old widowed woman who lives by herself. Though touted to be a romantic comedy, the protagonists of the film or the lead couple aren’t young or falling in love at first sight. Parvathy is portrayed to be nervous and conscious when she goes to meet Irrfan through a dating app but soon finds her own ground. Another unconventional film written by Dhaliwal includes Sonam Kapoor starrer Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga which narrates a one of a kind queer love story in a Hindi commercial film.

Gauri Shinde

One of the path-breaking films in the portrayal of mothers in Hindi cinema was English Vinglish starring Sridevi. The film is written and directed by Gauri Shinde. Sridevi played a mother who refused to be a tragic queen confined to the kitchen, but explores a new country and learns English in an effort to rebond with her teenage daughter. By the end of the film, she rediscovers herself, and learns to put herself first. Shinde is also the director and writer of Alia Bhatt starrer Dear Zindagi that spoke about mental health in a way rarely done by mainstream Hindi films.