The Portrayal of Gender Inequality in Selected Female Oriented Bollywood Movies

Men have been considered superior in most cultures since they have been the ones who bring home the bacon, whereas women have always been considered a subject to her father, husband or son, thus inferior. Cinema is not just a modern-day art; rather it is a modern-day mind; while watching a film, we are constantly watching ourselves. In the form of a mirror, Cinema has sharply reflected the Indian psyche and the changing roles of women from time to time. This paper deals with gender inequality and its influence on the patriarchal Indian society with a focus on some female-oriented Bollywood movies. It also tries to highlight how, even though the Indian Constitution emphasises gender equality, Indian Cinema has failed to provide decision making roles to women in Bollywood movies.


Introduction
Over the years, the concept of gender roles has taken new dimensions, and this has primarily affected the portrayal of gender issues, especially gender contrarieties in Cinema.
Based on the sociological aspect, 'gender' refers to defining male and female by the society that differentiates and assigns different roles to them based on their physical ability or sexuality.
The process of gender discrimination begins as soon as a child is born into a family. On the one hand, where the birth of a son is celebrated on Lohri, and both mother and child are showered with love and blessings, the birth of a daughter is considered to be filled with pain and burden.
According to the Oxford Reference Dictionary, Gender inequality refers to a 'social process by which people are treated differently and disadvantageously, under similar circumstances, based on gender'. Right from childhood, gender differentiation is evident in the behaviour of parents and people around, based on the sex of the children. For instance, girls generally get toys like dolls and kitchen sets, etc. that induce communion, nurturing, and intimacy; whereas boys get toys like cars, guns, etc. that induce independence and competitiveness in them. Education, though, is helping in bridging the gap created due to gender inequality but, equal employment opportunities and salary to both still is a distant dream.

Cinema and Society
Cinema is considered a significant point of reference for Indian culture and society. It has conveyed the changing scenarios and form of India's cultural and societal sentiments incredibly to the extent that no former art form could ever achieve. Cinema is not just a modern day art; rather it is a modern-day mind; while watching a film, we are constantly watching ourselves. In the form of a mirror, it has sharply reflected the Indian psyche from SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 5, MAY 2020 www.ijellh.com 25 time to time. Not only does it just reflect, but it has also shaped and influenced society over time. It is believed that Cinema and society influence each other, if not, then where do the films get their inspiration from?
The world or society that we live in is constantly changing, and the same changes are produced in the Cinema. For instance, the depiction of 'Maa' in the Hindi movies of the '60s, '70s right till the '80s was that she cared about nothing but her children and the one who used to burn the midnight oil doing menial jobs to afford two meals a day or to pay for the hero's education, which has now been replaced by the modern, educated and sometimes even independent 'Mom', but no matter which era it is, she is an epitome of sacrifice and hard work.
Cinema helps in reflecting on the changes that take place in society as well as it paints the picture of politics and the economy of present times. From the emergence of small towns to the growth of the middle class; from the depiction of enslavement, hopelessness, anger, isolation, and separation to liberation, optimism, pleasure, accessibility, and togetherness.
Observers and analysts believe that movies have been playing a crucial role as a mass medium since its inception. Despite the tremendous growth in the making and examining of the movies over the years, a thorough study of films has remained entirely underdeveloped. Though an ocean of material has been produced, just a handful of it has provided meaningful perception about the nature of the movies and their role in the society.

The Portrayal of Women in Bollywood
When one thinks of India, it's hard not to think about Bollywood. Over nine decade-long history, Bollywood has seen the females take on different forms, be it a sacrificing mother, a damsel in distress or a woman in charge of her destiny. But the one thing that becomes clear while looking at the chart of the evolution of the role of women in Bollywood is largely the role of the viewers' gaze. The 1930s to late 1940s, Indian Cinema showcased anger and demand for independence from British Colonisers. Post-independence, Indian Cinema produced movies based on social issues and everyday problems and portrayed a society that people desired to achieve.
The 1950s to late 1970s is considered the 'Golden Era' of Bollywood since it portrayed the more idealistic picture of society. The country was enjoying its newfound freedom, and the atmosphere of new aspirations and new beginnings demonstrated itself in Hindi cinema as well.
Films produced during these years focused on the themes like India's rich culture, rural-urban development, overcoming gender or class inequalities, the significance of relationships, importance of customs, norms and ethics. The women got equally important and dominant roles in the films along with the male actors. Thus both shared the responsibility on their shoulders to sell the movie in the market.
One of the notable movies of this era was 'Mother India'-the idea was to celebrate women as the nation's pillar of strength-a thought that is perfectly represented in the iconic movie poster that shows Nargis with a wooden plough. Directed by Mehboob in 1957, it combined socialistic ideals with traditional values. In the opening scene of the film, Radha (Nargis Dutt) a woman in her late years referred to as the 'Mother' of the village, is asked to inaugurate a new canal constructed in her village by the men presiding over the function. The term Bharat Mata, i.e., (Mother India) is a part of the Indian consciousness. Radha is shown as a common woman, an ideal wife, an obedient daughter-in-law and a caring mother. Women watching this film can easily identify with her, and the men will recognise her as their sister, wife or mother.
Though female characters were an essential part of the narrative; they were often portrayed through a patriarchal lens. For instance, Waheeda Rahman's role in the 1965 classic 'The Guide'. Rosie leaves her disloyal and unsupportive husband to follow her passion for being a successful dancer and for being with a man she loves. However, she leaves Raju too when he did not turn out to be what she thought he was. Thus to some extent, female actors of that era enjoyed the decision making roles.
The 1970s-1980s burst the idealistic bubble of the '60s, giving way to the more realistic picture of how the audiences identified women in their real life depicted onscreen. It was the period when women in Bollywood got the role either of a mother or a dutiful wife. The leading ladies had to undergo taunts and oppression in respectful silence. The uncertainty of those times was highlighted through the way women were portrayed onscreen, celebrating her as a more traditional mother figure. Two movies that perfectly depict this theory are 'Jai Santoshi Maa' (1975), and 'Seeta Aur Geeta ' (1972). Both the movies presented, the 'good' female character as an oppressed and fearful woman who suffered the mental and physical torture from her family members quietly. This depiction of bearing the pain in silence shown as a virtue that all women must-have. Of course towards the end, they eventually get their happy ending, but they remained subservient as they were in the beginning, with a happy ending for the audience that comprised mostly men.
The 1980s-90s witnessed the rise of the action star; it was the time when Bollywood heroines lost their screen timings and space to the heroes. The female lead was reduced to a magnetic component of the films who used to dance around trees or were kidnapped, raped and killed. A larger-than-life hero was given a reason, the (attempted) rape or murder of his sister, girlfriend or any other woman in his life, to deliver a crowd-pleasing dialogue and beat up the bad guys in a choreographed fight sequence. Thus the role of the female lead was reduced to a one-dimensional character, her entire existence in the narrative of the story was first to be at the mercy of the bad guy, and when that does not work, then call for her brother/boyfriend/husband, who will fight bravely and eventually save her or take her revenge.
The female leads in the 90s had wholly lost the space they had created for themselves. As films became universal and hi-tech, the heroes took centre stage whereas the heroines were more of lose. But eventually, they do get the sponsorship to participate in the World Cup Tournament because of the generosity of the male hockey team. This scene tries to send out a message loud that no matter how well women are in their respective areas, they can never be better than men.
And in the second half, even after all the coaching and teaching, the internal rivalry remains till the end, implying that the females can never unite.
The movie 'Pink' is a story of three middle-class normal working girls Minal, Falak and Andrea, who are out for a regular fun night to a rock concert. After the show, they accept a dinner invitation from a guy named Rajveer and two of his friends to a resort in Surajkund. Unfortunately, the night takes an ugly turn for them when A ndrea finds herself being touched inappropriately by Dumpy (Raashul Tandon)  www.ijellh.com 31 most famous dialogue, "No means No" was spoken not by any of the three female leads, but by the male lead, Amitabh Bachan.
'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga' is an unusual tale of finding love and acceptance.
The movie starts with the traditional-when a boy meets a girl setup, where Sahil (Rajkumar Rao) finds himself fallen in love at first sight. A random, but pretty girl, Sweety (Sonam K. Ahuja), grabs his hand and pulls him into a chase and thus begins the story. Since Sahil is in love, he sets off on a path to track down the girl and profess his undying love to her. Later, he learns that she loves another girl, the major problem of the story. The girl's conservative Punjabi family too is pooled into the story, which includes, Beeji (Madhumalti Kapoor), Papaji, Balbir (Anil Kapoor) and Veerji (Abhishek Duhan) leading to a complete emotional family drama.
The movie uses a fair share of stereotypes to tell a modern and relevant love story. The fact that it brings a niche subject like homosexuality, to a mainstream movie, undoubtedly is one of its strengths. However, all that the movie offers is how Sahil (Rajkumar Rao) helps Sweety (Sonam K. Ahuja)-the damsel in distress, in convincing her father to accept her marrying to another girl. Although Sweety herself is in charge of her own life, still she looks up to the men (her father, her brother and later Sahil) to make decisions for her all her life.
The movie 'Veere Di Wedding' is a story of the journey of four friends from roughly from 18 years to 28 years as they talk about their boyfriend problems and then about husband problems.
The movie begins with Kalindi (Kareena Kapoor Khan), who hesitatingly agrees to marry her three years old boyfriend, then changes her mind, and later changes it back again. Since the film is about women, it must feature Kalindi's three best friends in the plot. Each of her friends is representative of a different sort of marriage problem. One is married to a foreigner, and this is not acceptable to her father, leading to father-daughter estrangement (Shikha Talsania). One SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 5, MAY 2020 www.ijellh.com 32 is on the verge of divorce (Swara Bhasker). And the third one has the biggest problem of them all-she is single in her late 20s (Sonam Kapoor Ahuja).
'Veere Di Wedding' claims to be a feministic movie, but the title itself does not do the justice to the film. In the opening scene, protagonist Kalindi tries to explain her mother-and the audience-the meaning of the word "veere"-"like bro". The story is not just about four women friends, but the women friends who are "cool bros" and that is the limit of the film's imaginative feministic storyline.
It was refreshing to see a mother dressing up her son in frocks. It was also refreshing to see a female protagonist masturbate on screen. It was even more refreshing to see a woman who is not waif-thin to be allowed a sexual life. However, the fact remains, it is a story of broculture; where super-affluent, upper-class women rather than celebrating and empowering womanhood, throughout the movie are either trying to play the role of men (veere) or trying to force men to play the role of women, which is completely evident in the song 'Tareefan' as well. The film tries to focus on gender equality, but all that it offers is bro-culture packaged as feminism and extending kindness or empathy only to the women within their network. The movie also sheds light on moral hypocrisy of all the aunties of the world who judge women who drink, smoke, love and abuse in public, for instance-the neighbourhood aunties who regularly pester Sakshi about her lifestyle and husband, or Kalindi's mothers-in-law to be (Rishabh's mother, and Sujata aunty).
Though the film does keep harping about its female-centricity, none of the female or male characters for that matter shows any explicit ideological commitment to the women's cause. Of course, the film has four women in the lead and no male superstar, also it has women producers. But it is hard to say whether the absence of a male lead has resulted in no hierarchy within the four women leads.