Page 89 - Masala E-magazine Vol 9 Issue 2 October - November 2017

1990 – 1999

As much as it hurts me to put my favourite lm from the ‘90s
in this list, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) is an obvious contender.
Romance blooms between the leading characters, Rahul (Shah
Rukh Khan) and Anjali (Kajol), only after Anjali physically
transforms from the tomboyish best friend in college to a
more feminine lady, sporting long hair and light-coloured
sarees, while singing bhajans. She has even become terrible at
basketball — a sport she once used to beat Rahul in. She wins
back her rst love, only after she became the ideal woman.

2000 – 2009

Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit Nene came together for
the fourth time in a lm titled Hum Tumhare Hai Sanam in
2002. A dialogue in the lm said, “Tum ek patni ho, tumhara
pati jaisa chahega vaisa hi hoga. Mard aurat ka bhagwan hota
hai.” The literal translation is that a husband is god for a wife;
she is to do whatever he wants. A turn of events caused Shah
Rukh’s character to send a divorce notice to his wife played
by Madhuri. As a result, she felt completely at loss and saw no
other alternative but to commit suicide. Her life is saved only
because her husband stops her. Older Hindi cinema especially
hung on to this old mentality that a woman, as a divorcee or a
widow, can never be happy. Thankfully, this mentality in both
cinema and real life has changed.

2010 – 2017

Sultan (2016) may have been a hit
for Salman Khan’s bank balance,
but it was a miss for feminism. The
movie cemented the mentality
that if you consistently try to
woo a woman (known more as
harassing) despite her rebukes,
she will eventually fall for you.
Sure enough, Anushka Sharma
falls for Salman and they get
married. Anushka continues to work towards her dream to
win an Olympic gold medal for India. But when she is close
to reaching her goals, she nds out she is pregnant, and as
a result, throws away her years of hard work and ambition
to focus only on her husband’s career. She may have been
shown as the ideal wife, but her sacri ce only strengthens
the belief that a woman is better o as wife or a mother rather
than a working professional.

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