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regular-article-logo Monday, 30 December 2024

Progress Report

Instead of a routine analysis of women-oriented cinema, look at the actresses who’ve followed the heroes into production

Bharathi S. Pradhan Published 08.12.24, 06:18 AM

Despite the din over women’s vote and fee parity, the performance of women in Hindi cinema this year would leave one frowning over how much of an impact they’ve really made.

Instead of a routine analysis of women-oriented cinema, look at the actresses who’ve followed the heroes into production. Alia Bhatt began with Darlings (2022) that also saw Jasmeet K. Reen debut as director. Between Alia-Shefali Shah and Jasmeet, they took on abusive men of different generations. Alia, the animal lover, continued with her heart in the right place when she let Malayalam actress Nimisha Sajayan take centrestage as the forest officer in Poacher (2024), a thriller that had ivory smuggling at its core.

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But when Alia signed herself up for a physically tough role in Jigra, she stumbled. Only on paper could she give a feminist turn to dad Mahesh Bhatt’s Gumrah (1993) and take on an army of trained men to free her brother from an impregnable prison. But Satya, a ballsy, yellow belt martial arts expert, who could beat up experienced fighters, was not tailored for a petite Alia.

Kareena Kapoor Khan didn’t fare any better when she gave herself the designation of producer. Actors sometimes tend to forget the overall picture while staring only at their own roles. Kareena was so inspired by Kate Winslet’s Mare Of Easttown that she decided to produce a similarly themed The Buckingham Murders, chose the same ambience by setting it in England and cast herself as the uncompromising investigating officer. Did it work? Not if you read the reviews. It certainly did nothing to boost Kareena’s new career move.

Deepika Padukone had been there, done that when she decided to expand her portfolio by becoming a producer for Chhapaak (2020). It was once again the case of an actor looking more at the challenge her role gave her than at how engaging the rest of the film was. The dull storytelling burnt the promising premise of a real-life acid victim.

Taapsee Pannu had whined about people letting her down when she set herself up as a producer with Blurr (2022), a film that managed to further blur her career. Another attempt titled Dhak Dhak (2023) had a screenplay that screeched feminism all over. For feminism, or any other social sentiment to work emphatically, the point must be made seamlessly and organically and not stick out as obviously calibrated.

Excited over seeing herself play a double role, Kriti Sanon went gung-ho over Do Patti that co-starred Kajol. She took on a third role too as producer. But none of the films that had an actress in the main lead and as producer has been memorable this year.

Actresses in general haven’t made waves all year. Even Madhuri Dixit’s and Vidya Balan’s clash in BB3 didn’t change their box office ratings. A blockbuster titled Stree 2 came along in August but it was Rajkummar Rao with Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee who were sparkling. When Agni released on Amazon, the decorated policeman vs the unsung fireman pitched Pratik Gandhi against Divyendu Sharma. Saiyami Kher was only a mandatory add-on as a firewoman.

Three women who did stand out this year were not the ones anybody was looking at with excitement. But Kiran Rao with Laapataa Ladies gave a boost to the sagging image of women in Hindi cinema while new faces Sharvari Wagh (Munjya, Maharaj, Vedaa) and Triptii Dimri (Bad Newz, Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, BB3) had a satisfying year even if all their films weren’t huge successes.

However, with the arrival of Pushpa 2, it will be hard to beat box office testosterone. It was Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal last December. It’s Allu Arjun’s swagger that’s currently scorching all commercial records. It is a tough fight for the ladies.

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