The Boy/ Girl Story in Mainstream Indian Cinema

Be warned, this is not well thought out, but I have to put it out there none the less. It's a concern I have with the portrayal of the lead female characters in Indian cinema, specifically though, in south Indian cinema. I don't see as many Hindi movies - but those of you who do, let me know if the situation applies there as well.

First of all, I'm not going into the obvious patronizing patriarchal nature of the plots in the movies, because the target demographic being men, who are still the majority ticket buying audience and the policy makers, it makes sense business wise. You can't get a large production value on just a keen social welfare agenda ;) It's sad, but it is what it is. I'm more concerned with the illusion of change with regards to the popular heroine.

Let me explain. A surface glance at the recent story lines, will show a positive change in the character of the urban female love interest. She was always beautiful but now she also happens to be educated, ambitious, more or less independent, opinionated and strong willed. A far cry from the shy, traditional beauty of the yesteryears. Not that there weren't strong women in the older movies... let's put a pin on that for now.

Simply put the lead female character is now "modern" (whatever that means..). But all her supposedly 'good' qualities are conditional. Conditional on satisfying the requirements of the tragically fragile male ego looming large in the hundreds of seats in the dark cinema hall. Normally, this wouldn't bother me, because its hardly a 'national secret'. We all know this but no one really addresses this. What does bother me is the "old wine in new bottle" scenario that seems to be molding the views of the youth with regards to how they think of and what they expect from the opposite sex. 

In many movies (nope, not naming names), I see precisely the situation that we want to avoid being peddled as 'progress' with some clever disguise. For example, in the generic movie, the girl is intelligent and strong willed but also kind of arrogant and naive when it comes to the reality of the world. The hero could be a down to earth and equally if not more intelligent and smart guy, but whatever happens there always comes a point in the plot, where the girl learns a 'lesson' at which point the hero, out of the kindness of his heart and deep love for her, imparts his 'gyaan'. The girl is now humbled and succumbs to his charms. Now, keep in mind, this can happen in many ways, not just through physical or verbal confrontation which may or may not involve a sleazy third party, and the lesson learned could be emotional, intellectual, or moral. There is suddenly a change in the girl's world view and/or her view of the hero and his world view, and acceptance of her mistake. 

I'm not saying the characters don't make sense, within the framework of the story- they often do. And I'm sure there are many naive girls and super smart guys out there :).. What I am saying is that this becomes a problem when sold as the norm or the fantasy and is implied, in the story, as the foundation for the ensuing passionate, all consuming and committed love affair. 

Also, I keep seeing a pattern of outdated, rigid philosophy of 'the ways of the world' coming out of many a 'modern' hero's mouth tempered with some new age terminology and some clever/cool punch line, to add effect, I'm sure. It doesn't exactly help that in all other respects the hero is a crusader against injustice, protector of the weak and all around good guy, with a swagger in his step and capable of being the lone warrior in a good vs. evil battle.

Let me guess, right now, many of you are thinking the exact same thing - "This guy's talking in hyperbole and making a mountain out of a molehill that's been here for a long time." Maybe I am, maybe I'm not.. I'm not getting into the larger social implications here, but I'm focusing on something as important but more subtle. The romantic relationships of our youth, which may or may not lead to or at least set the tone for our adult, 'mature' relationships.

Many of you might be positive about the fact that this doesn't apply to you or any of the relationships you have witnessed. Somewhat true I suppose.. I can attest to this on a personal level, as the circles I travel in, seem largely impervious to the subtle prejudices of the 'traditional' structure, at least more so than the majority of the larger movie viewing populace of the south.

However, even in urban India, real boy/girl romantic relationships, generally, don't start until college. The problem is that throughout the formative years of teenage we are influenced, overtly or covertly, by the fictional affairs in our popular movies, because, let's face it, movies are almost a 'religion' in Indian culture. I started thinking about this issue when I looked back and remembered gender based prejudices prevailing among many of the guys (well, not my friends ;)...) in college - and this was a bustling, multi-cultural, progressive student body in a major metropolis. By the process of elimination, I came to the conclusion that this can't be coming from the voices of our 'elders' ringing in our ears or from our classrooms, because on principle alone, we refuse to listen to either. It had to be from popular culture. Even those who are keen viewers of movies in multiple languages, including Hollywood products, are not entirely safe from this propaganda, as our peers and cultural context have way more capacity to shape our thoughts. Even scarier is the possibility (though I can't really comment on this) of how much this is influencing the girls and their thoughts and expectations from relationships, maybe even without them being aware.

I'm not against tradition or for change for the sake of change. There is value in established culture. It got established for more reasons than just superficial power struggles between classes or genders. It has its benefits and wisdom and then some. 

All I'm saying is that we should be aware of what shapes our decisions and opinions in both our personal and professional lives. Especially, when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex. So my desi boys and girls, let's deal with each other based on who we are, shall we.. and not based on what we're 'supposed to be' to each other.