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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF MINOR RESEARCH PROJECT ON Portrayal of Woman in selected Popular Hindi (2005-2010) : A Feministic Perspective

In the present minor research project, the study of portrayal of woman in popular Hindi Films released between 2005 and 2010 has been undertaken to explore the urgent issue of woman portrayal in popular literature like films. The work was carried out with the systematic methodology, logical analysis and derived reasoned conclusions. Origin of the research problem and Hypothesis: The researcher felt that it is the general acceptable notion that films are the best means of entertainment. It is the also the best reflector of culture being lived in the given set-up. It is a reality in India that films are like religion to people. It is observed that despite of building consciousness of feministic studies all over the globe, the portrayal of woman character in the contemporary Hindi cinema has not been keeping pace with the ideological matrices of the internationally celebrated movement called Feminism. Even today, woman in films is portrayed as stereotyped, submissive as well as a decorative “thing”. Hence, it is the need of the hour to look into the affair from the objective lens. Aims and Objectives: The present research project was aimed to depict and analyze the woman- character portrayal in the Contemporary Hindi films that were released between 2005 and 2010. It also objectified to to tackle the gender-biased attitude of the -makers. Scope and Limitations: The researcher has considered only Major Hindi Films released between 2005 and 2010 and only popular widely known as blockbuster films were selected that were, released between 2005 and 2010 Selection of Popular Hindi Films: Selection of the popular Hindi films released between 2005 and 2010 has been done with help of survey. A survey of popular Hindi films released between the aforesaid period was undertaken by the researcher in terms of various parameters such as making budget, box office collection, star-cast etc. It was concluded that on an average around 100 films are released in a year. Films cover up various issues, themes and concerns and were termed as action , romance, comedy, tragi-comedy etc. Based on the index of Box-office collection, popular Hindi films such as No Entry, Dhoom 2, Welcome, Om Shanti Om and 3 idiots were selected. Chapter-scheme: The present project has been completed in five chapters.

Chapter I Introduction: The researcher has taken a brief survey of called Hindi Films. He has asserted that, Hindi films can be categorised on the basis of timeframe in a given decade. Films from 1947 to 1958 during the period of which films were adapted the Indian mythological framework feeding the public with the rich Indian spiritual heritage. Films after 1960 depicted the then existing social reality envisaging public about their concerning the domain of warfare, nation building process, upliftment of the downtrodden, ignorance, romance in the prevailing caste-system . 1980 aftermath witnessed the birth of a young man angered with the corrupt establishment colored with action, violence, romance. 1990 flair of Hindi films is a tale of family drama where values such as love , harmony, comradadarie, togetherness dominate the imaginative legacy of audience. Films that were released between 2005 and 2010 are cosmopolitan mixture of romance, action, comedy, drama and suspense. Films such as have tremendous impact on Indian psyche. Chapter 2 Hindi Films: Popular Indian Aesthetics: The researcher has introduced Hindi Film Industry from its inception of the first Hindi Film released in India, Shree Pundalik on 18 May 1912 by Marathi filmmaker Dadasaheb Torane to the present era. The chapter deals with a brief history of Hindi Films that has gone through various phases..From the First walkie-talkie Aalam Aara, researcher asserted, Hindi films have gone through climactic phases shaping the Indian milieu in creative enterprise. The period from 1944 to 1960 is cherished as the Golden Age of Indian cinema. '' movement was being firmly established in Indian cinema. Its influence on World Cinema can also be felt in the "youthful coming of age dramas that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties" which "owe a tremendous debt to ". and Ritwik Ghatak went on to direct many more critically acclaimed ‘art films’, and they were followed by other acclaimed Indian independent filmmakers such as Mrinal Sen, mani Kaul, Adoor Gopalkrishna et al. Commercial Hindi Cinema also began thriving, with examples of acclaimed films at the time include the films (1957) and Kagaz ke Phool (1959) and the films (1951) and Shree 420 (1955). These films delineated social themes mainly dealing with working-class urban populace in India; Awaara presented the city as both a nightmare and a dream, while Pyaasa is a critique of the unreality of city life. Some epic films were also produced at the time, including Mehboob Khan’s (1957), which was nominated for the academy Award for Best Foreign language Film andK. Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam (1960), V. Shantaram’s Do Ankhe Barah Haat (1957) is believed to have inspired themany a Hollywood film. Other mainstream Hindi filmmakers at the time included Kamal Amrohi and Vijay Bhatt. Modern Indian cinema in 1970s , nevertheless, saw the rise of commercial cinema in form of enduring films such as Anand (1971), Amar Prem (1971) and (1972), establishing as the first Superstar of Indian Cinema. Later, in mid 70s, action films like Zanjeer (1974) and Sholay (1975), defined Amitabh Bachchan as a lead actor. The chapter also explicates the influences, , styles such as masala films, parallel Cinema, film music. It concludes that the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st saw extensive interaction between artists from India and the world. Artists from Indian diaspora blended the traditions of their heritage to those of their country to give rise to popular contemporary music. Chapter 3 Review of Related Literature: In this chapter the researher has undertaken review of related literatures on the topic under study. It highlights Feministic film criticism which addresses woman depiction in popular literatures. The chapter deals with the pronouncements of film critics such as Chistian Metz, Cynthia a. Freeland, Kaul C., Michelle Larkin, Priyambada Baghwati, Shoma Chatterji, Kumkum Roy and Laura Mulay et al. After having studied the review of literatures of the aforesaid film-critics, the researcher has firmly affirmed the need of the study of representation of woman in popular literature such as films. Chapter 4 Women character Analysis: Feministic Perspectives The researcher has adopted content analysis method of studying and analyzing woman portrayal in systematic, objective and quantities manner for the purpose of measuring variables. The five selected Popular Hindi films such as No Entry, Dhoom 2, Welcome, Om Shanti Om and 3 idiots have been analyzed in tabular forms in various dimensions such as Length of movie, total length woman pictured, Leading characters,,,kinds of woman characters, Art of living of woman characters, Symbolism of non-virtue pertaining to presence on screen, type of woman-character costume etc. After having carried out the Content analysis of the selected popular Hindi Films released between 2005 and 2010, the researcher concludes that there are 3-3-3 main and supportive women characters. Most of the women characters are stereotypes, performing characters of wife, girlfriend. Most of the women characters of the mentioned movies are portryed as ideal housewives. All these movies are male leading movies. All the selected films employ woman just as a decorative agent. Woman is hardly given any substantial stuff. She is ‘used’ as a signifier of sexual object keeping her on periphery on the matrix of films. Chapter 5 Conclusion: In all, after having studied all the selected films in their portrayal of women the researcher draws conclusions. He strongly states that the fact emerges as a crystal clear that in spite of so much philosophical, ideological orientation has been done in the study of woman representation in popular literatures such as films, woman is still objectified. The same age-old bias continues overriding creative enterprise. She is shown homely, submissive, ready-to-explore object. The filmmakers hardly acknowledge her strong conviction that she is quite equal to her male counterpart in all the aspects. She is utilized as somebody to evoke sensual instincts among onlookers. She is referred to with derogatory terms as ‘maal, item,patakha’ which are enjoyed by audience. It clearly states, the researcher asserts, masculine perception of woman in the twenty-first century. However there are filmmakers that acknowledge her strength and give her deserve cinematic space in their films. This is high time to think about this grim reality. Film fraternity need to consider this fact and devise their plots giving her deserved position. They have to reconsider their attitude towards woman and should depict her with all the objective parameters. Film Fraternity may be boasting of their industry as the leading, laborious, industrious and bussiness-wise at par with Hollywood, but unless it gives woman what she, as a human being deserves, it will not justify the rationale of creative enterprise in the true sense of the word. Once it is attained it, only then we will sing, dance and rejoice are what films objectify. In conclusion, the researcher says that Indian cinema industry has changed significantly since 1947 earning a name for it worldwide for its techniques, subject matter dealings, catching mass attention. Indian films are now combating with western productions on the world stage, winning prestigious international awards. The saga of success of Indian cinema across the world is spreading the rich cultural traditions of Indian milieu in the pretexts of dance, music and rich diversified culture to a global audience. Culture is the essential factor in the modern society and cinema has turned out to be a catalyst in reflecting various colours of life. It reflects many trends, existing virtues, social struggles, and the living social norms, structures of thought and varied patterns. The Indian cinema portrays the essence of the Indian society. The Indian cinema boasts of the ethnic and traditional values of the Indian society, its cultural diversity and the unity among the varied cultural and religious sects. Thus it plays a very important in depicting the Indian values to the world, opening a panorama of richness to the world. This is the reason the Indian films are very popular all around Asia and also in other parts of the world.

Dr. G. B. Kalyanshetti Principal Investigator