An Analysis of Hindi Women-Centric Films in India
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University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 12-2012 An analysis of Hindi women-centric films in India. Srijita Sarkar University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Sarkar, Srijita, "An analysis of Hindi women-centric films in India." (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1265. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1265 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN ANALYSIS OF HINDI WOMEN-CENTRIC FILMS IN INDIA By Srijita Sarkar M.A., University of Calcutta, 2007 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Sociology University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky December, 2012 AN ANALYSIS OF HINDI WOMEN-CENTRIC FILMS IN INDIA By Srijita Sarkar M.A., University of Calcutta, 2007 A Thesis Approved on November 13, 2012 by the following Thesis Committee: T~is D?rector (Dr. Patricia Gagne) Dr. Gui' Aldikacti Marsruffl Dr. Btomvyn Williams ii DEDICATION This Thesis is dedicated to my parents Mr. Sukanta Sarkar and Mrs. Sathi Sarkar and my fiance Mr. Abhik Ray for supporting all my endeavors in thinking out of the box. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Any academic project requires a lot of encouragement, endurance, and guidance. I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have motivated me, in their own way, while I worked in this study. First, I want to express gratitude to my committee chair, Dr. Patricia Gagne for being such a great mentor, teacher, sociologist, and above all a great human being. I have always marveled at her passion and enthusiasm for the subject. I will be grateful to her for being such a great guide to an international student. lowe a lot to her. I am also thankful to my other thesis committee members; Dr. Gul Marshall for her thoughtful insights, and Dr. Bronwyn Williams, for invoking a love for the study of popular culture. I cannot thank them enough for answering all my questions so patiently, and inducing in me the capacity to think critically. I want to thank all of you for taking out time from your busy schedules and guiding me in this project. Apart from being great teachers you all are great human beings too. I would like to thank Dr. U sui, Dr. Rieger and all the professors in the department for being such great teachers. I would also take this opportunity to thank my undergraduate mentor in India, Dr. Prasanta Ray, for instilling in me the love for the subject. I was fascinated by his way of teaching and the perspectives that he brought in. My cohorts at graduate school, I will always cherish your friendship; all my consultants and the staff at the University Writing Center, thank you for being so iv accommodative. A special thanks to Michelle Day and Brit Mandelo for being the best consultants that anyone could ever ask for. I have admired your deftness at proof-reading as well as being so involved in my thesis, and enabling me to challenge my critical thinking prowess. I will miss our sessions, which were so interesting and thought provoking. Additionally, I would like express my gratitude to all my friends in the United States for your endless love and support, especially to Ms. Billie Monk, Ms. P.Heitzman, AlIens, Dale and Mr. Debashis Biswas for making me feel at home even though I was miles away from home. This thesis is also a result of their motivation and continual reassurance. Finally, I would like to thank my family- Sister, Mom and Dad (Mr. Sukanta Sarkar). Dad, this thesis, (everything I am today) is because of you. Thank you, for giving me this opportunity to study in the US and instilling in me the passion for hard work and being an independent woman. Dad you are my greatest role model and inspiration. I can only hope to be a great human being like you. To my fiance, Mr. Abhik Ray, thank you for your endless support, bringing back my confidence, and standing by me all the time. Your calmness and poise as a graduate student has never ceased to amaze me. You bring a lot of laughter, sunshine and happiness- and I am very grateful for that. I would also like to express my gratitude towards my in-laws to be for their love and support. A special thanks to Mr. Saurabh Shekhar for being such a good brother-in law to be and a friend. Finally, my Guru, Swami Purnatmanadji Maharaj for guiding me with the spirit to survIve and fight challenges III a foreign country. v ABSTRACT AN ANALYSIS OF HINDI WOMEN-CENTRIC FILMS IN INDIA Srijita Sarkar November13,2012 My study examines women-centric cinema in India that are in Hindi. In 'these films women have revolted against the injustice. The content analysis of the movies (parallel and middle) focuses on representation of women-centered issues. The Parallel Cinema is serious and artistic in its representation, mainly attracting the elites, whereas, and the middle cinema is a cross between the commercial and parallel cinema, and is meant for the masses. This study compares and contrasts both types of cinema. The main implication of this thesis was that representation of women in such films encourages social change in the treatment of women in Indian society, which is very male-dominated and patriarchal, by showing women as emotionally and economically independent. Therefore, by acknowledging the open-secrets like domestic violence, abuse etc, it brings these problems upfront, by allowing women to talk about it in public. vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Movies selected for this study ............................................... 61 2. Differences between Art/Parallel Cinema and Middle Cinema .......... 88 3. Difference between Male and Female Directors ........................... 100 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................. .iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................6 Stereotypical Portrayal of women in Hollywood Movies ..............................6 Hollywood's influence on Bollywood ......................................................8 Stereotypical Portrayal of women in Bollywood Movies .............................. 9 History of Alternative Cinema (ParallellNew Wave) .................................14 Film Makers of New Wave/Parallel Cinema .............•................................17 History of Alternative Women-Centered Cinema .....................................25 Controversies surrounding Women-Centered Cinema .............................. 28 Middle Cinema ..............•................................................................33 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................36 Feminist Theories ............................................................................36 The Critical traditions .......................................................................44 Globalization theory ..........................................................................47 Theory of Popular Culture .................................................................52 viii METHODOLOGy .........................................................................56 The Sample ...................................................................................59 The Data Analysis and Descriptions ....................................................63 The Coding Scheme ........................................................................ 64 FINDINGS AND ANALySIS ............................................................68 Plot Synopsis of the films .................................................................. 68 Parallel Films .................................................................................69 Middle Cinema ...............................................................................73 Difference between Art and Middle Cinema ...........................................79 Difference between male and female directors ........................................90 Narrative and Semantic ....................................................................101 Other findings ................................................................................. 122 Spiritual or Mythological Connection .. ........................... , .............. 122 Characterization of Women in the film: Take of the actresses .............. 123 Role of Women as Audiences ..................................................... 125 SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION .......................................................129 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................141 Positive Aspect............................................................................... 142 Negative Aspect ..............................................................................142