Role of Women

in Indian Cinema
 Women in Indian Cinema: Early days
• Hangover of the prude mentality of the medieval and
colonial period continued.
• Women of good families were not supposed to
venture out in public and be seen in the company of
men.
• Therefore the actresses of the early Indian film
industry were the entertainers.
• Some foreign artistes became heroines in Indian films
as Indian women were ‘hesitant to expose themselves to
the gaze of the film camera’.
• But by the thirties, women from
educated background and good
families started entering the film
industry.

• Devika Rani – distant relative of

Rabindranath Tagore who married
the Russian painter Roerich,
Sadhona Bose, grand-daughter of
social reformer Keshub Chandra Sen,
etc.

• In case women of good families

took to public singing- dancing,
they changed their names.
(Example of Naina Devi).
 Devika Rani
• The icon of the 30's and 40's, Devika
Rani was the first Dream Girl and the first
First Lady of the Indian Screen. She was
the grand niece of Rabindranath Tagore
and truly a great beauty.
• She began her career as Textile Designer
with leading art studio in England.
• There she met Himansu Rai and agreed
to design the sets of his first production
Light of Asia (1925).
• After marriage they left for Germany
where Rai made A Throw of Dice (1929)
in collaboration with Germany's famous
UFA Studio.
• Films like Achhut Kanya
expressed her skills and set
standards of performance and
costume.
• Her attire as the village girl
became the norm for all such
roles!
• In India, Rai and Devika Rani
established the famous
Bombay Talkies Studio.
• In 1945, she quit films to marry
the noted Russian painter, Dr.
Svetoslav Roerich.
• She died in 1994.
 Later half of twentieth
century:

• Twentieth century saw

educated women from elite
families belonging to higher
caste taking to dance,
theatre, films as vocation.
• This changed the tenor,
hue and repertoire of the
art forms.
• Although Indian cinema continues
to change and evolve, reflecting
new trends in gender relations, at
least in very traditional Indian
cinema women who live by these
traditional norms are portrayed as
happy and ethical.

• Women who go against these

rules of narrative and culture in
film are punished and seen as
immoral.
 Four Roles of Women
• These roles and constructions of women
are reflected in a great deal of popular
Indian Cinema.
• Four important roles to consider include:
– ideal wife,
– ideal mother,
– vamp, and
– courtesan
 The Ideal Wife
• This character is represented
by moral purity and fidelity.

• She must be consistent with

traditional Indian roles by
honouring the family and
depending on the husband.

• She is closely connected to the

domestic domain.
 The Ideal Mother
• Indian reference to the
mother involves religious
suggestion.
• The country is connected
with the mother goddess,
Shakti, who represents great
strength.
• The role of the mother in
Indian film is often seen as a
strong force, such as in
Mother India (1957).
 The Vamp
• The vamp in Indian film is
modern and imitates western
women.
• Her behavior can include
smoking, drinking, and dancing.
• She can also be quick to fall
in and out love.
• She is seen as a seductress.
• She represents unacceptable
behavior and is seen as
unwholesome.
• She is almost always punished
for her behavior.
 The Courtesan
• The courtesan is outside the
normal realm of Indian
womanhood in that she is a
type of prostitute or dancing
girl.
• She embodies sexuality.
• She is a character who helps
with the physical and
emotional needs of men.
• Often in Indian film, she
gives the man comfort and
care, after which, he leaves
her to desperately mourn the
loss of him.
 Position today
Today’s screen actors:
• Comfortable with their roles.
• Blurred boundary lines between
scenes considered taboos in
yester years by leading
actresses and acts in scenes
with vamps.