Bollywood: Dearth of Romatic On-Screen Heros in Hindi Films

In 100 years of Hindi films, there are hardly any romantic stories that have heroes who could sweep a woman off her feet or guys that girls can dream about. We have often lamented that Hindi movies show no respect for women and that the portrayal of women is too poor. If songs call girls ‘item’, ‘maal’ and suchlike, it is not an incorrect complaint either.  Frankly for all the romanticization of the character of Devdas he is hardly a guy a girl will want. He treated two strong women badly and dumped them – after which he spent a lifetime feeling sorry for himself.

There have been heroes who have ranged from obsessive to scary obsessive (outstanding example, Darr) where they want to harm the object of their affection. There have been wimps waiting for the women to take risks and go to them (examples, Taal and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. The latter, one of the biggest romantic hits, shows the guy continually telling the girl to wait and finally chooses to go away – leaving the heroine to actualise the love story.). There are guys who do their own thing till they decide it is time to “settle” down and return to the eternally waiting woman (examples, Love Aaj Kal and Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani).

Don’t get me wrong here – all these movies have been entertaining. The grouse is about perpetuating a fallacy that women want this kind of a man or feel romanced and loved by this behaviour. They don’t.

So far, in the thousands of Hindi movies made, there have been just three men who made, and make, a woman feel loved. 

1. Vanraj (Ajay Devgan) from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

It is not the fact that Vanraj took Nandini in search for her past love that makes him an incredible lover. It is the fact that he loved so totally that he accepted everything about her. Love puts the happiness of the loved one first. The turning point for Vanraj’s character is the scene between him and his father. The father tells Vanraj to be a man. And Vanraj expostulates his idea of what a man should be.

Vanraj’s selfless love tied Nandini to him and ultimately she chooses him. Vanraj showed that love is unconditional.

2. Rahul (Shahrukh Khan) in his first relationship from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

The first half of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is all about the blossoming love and romance between Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji. Though ultimately the movie is supposed to be the story of Shahrukh and Kajol, the true love story in this celebrated romantic movie is the other one. “Mardon ka sar sirf teen auraton ke saamne jhukta hai. Apni Ma, Devi Ma aur...” he first tells her and then confesses his love for her by just bowing his head to her and saying “aur”. Every woman wants to be the “aur”. That makes her feel special. Rahul is irresistible because his love is complete surrender.

3. Anand Babu (Rajesh Khanna) from Amar Prem

A much older movie, but an ageless love. She, a tawaif with a devastating past and a sordid present. He, a rich, heartbroken customer. While he came to the bazaar to run away from his demons, he loves her enough to be her emotional anchor giving her both, sympathy and empathy. Love rises above self to be a support in every way. Anand Babu’s love is both large and eternal.

Society: A Failed State

From an 8-day old baby to an 80-year old lady, no woman seems to be safe in India anymore.

Every single day some more statistics get added into the increasing string of horrific rapes and atrocities committed against women and children in India as the government first promises then deliberates and debates over “stronger laws” for protection.

What are we coming to?

Rape is an unforgivable and unjustifiable crime. Like the three unspeakable spells in Harry Potter, child abuse, rape and murder are simply unjustifiable. And as a society we must make them so.

Within the first three months of this year we have heard horrendous stories of the five year old in Delhi (see, I am squeamish even trying to write any descriptive adjective/s with this!); stories of a four year old raped in Maharashtra and more and more and more. Endlessly more. Each getting more gruesome.

These are the reported ones. Every day there are hundreds of unreported crimes against children and women. Why you may ask – surely everyone remembers the police slapping an agitator during the reportage of the case of the 5-year old in Delhi. With such an attitude amongst the law-keepers of the nation, there is little chance of people trusting them.

Rape and child abuse are demeaning and degrading crimes that leave the victim scarred for their entire lives. The victim of these crimes does not heal even if the perpetrator of such crimes is arrested, tried and sentenced.

In the ‘80s one of the most reported case was of Aruna. Aruna was a nurse in KEM hospital in Mumbai. She was engaged to be married soon. One night as she was walking in the premise of the hospital (probably going back to her quarters), a ward boy waylaid her. He tied a dog collar around her throat and raped her. Aruna lost her mind. Literally. The hospital gave her the best treatment possible, but Aruna remained trapped in that moment forever. She had no respite. Her engagement broke. The room in the hospital was the only home she ever knew. The ward boy was sentenced. He went to prison, completed his term and came back into society to continue his life. But Aruna had no continuation of life.

Had Jyoti (Nirbhaya’s real name) survived, she would never be able to eat (her intestines were removed). She would never be able to have any normal bodily functions. The internal damage was so profound that she would not be able to do anything all her life by herself. She would have always needed help. This is only her physical condition. No one knows what the impact on her mental and emotional state would be.

Is there any real punishment for someone who does such a thing?

When a child of 5 is abused – does the abuser even deserve to be heard? Is there any defense?

When a lady of 80 is attacked – can the attacker have any reason?

When such crimes are increasing on a daily basis – does the society have any claim to be a “functioning” society?

A country where the President (Pratibha Patil) grants pardon to criminals (including those considered rarest of rare), grants pardon to murderers and rapists (of women and children) is a failed state. The law-makers and the law-keepers have failed monumentally.

India not only needs stronger laws for protection of children and women; it also needs better law-keepers. In addition we do not only want laws but extremely firm and immediate action – else the law would be like having teeth without a bite.

We not only need it and want it – but every citizen in the country demands a right to safety.

Book Review: The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi aka Mahatma Gandhi is probably the most revered person in India. Known as the apostle of peace, Mahatma Gandhi’s fame has spread around the world. Much after his death, he has followers in people like Martin Luther King Junior and Nelson Mandela, and fans in people like Albert Einstein. In fact, Einstein had said about Gandhi: ”Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.” 

M. K. Gandhi was the leading figure in India’s struggle for independence. In the whole world, every fight against an unjust ruler has been marked by bloody uprisings. Whether the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution or any other fight, the history of mankind is strewn with violence. The greatness of Gandhi comes in his leadership by non-violence. It is not as if non-violence was a new concept, but this man not only knew it as a concept, he believed and lived it – and most miraculously made an entire nation follow it. He led non-violent protests, marches and non-cooperation movements – but never exhorted the millions who followed him to take to arms. And miraculously, he achieved the goal of Independence from British rule for India. He is the ultimate example of simplicity in living.

 

The Story of My Experiments With Truth is Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography. He wrote this while he was leading the nation. It is important to understand this context because in the book, Gandhi describes his failings and struggles. For a leader who has millions watching him, hanging on to his words, believing in him and unquestioningly following him to admit to his failings during his own time is a feat of courage that is unparalleled. There are frequent autobiographies and biographies of famous lives – but these are usually after the days of glory have passed.

The incidents that Gandhi writes about, in the current day and in different societies, may not seem like massive struggles – but in his day, age and society they were huge. He came from an extremely orthodox Gujarati vegetarian family. In the book, he writes about partaking non-vegetarian food. No big deal today. But to give this a perspective: he is writing about it in the early 1900s. The state of Gujarat, from where he came, is still largely vegetarian even today. In the year 2000, Pizza Hut opened an outlet in Ahmedabad, the biggest city in that state. It was the first all vegetarian Pizza Hut in the world!

This book is of the period in Gandhi’s life spanning from being Mohandas in South Africa to becoming Mahatma in India. While on one hand it describes his efforts to stay on a path of truth and courage in his personal and public life; on the other hand, it is a blueprint about being a politician with honesty and idealism. Politics, as Plato envisaged, was the highest form of art and science. Like every idealistic theory, this one too has gone completely against its grain by now – but Gandhi shows the most beautiful and sublime aspects of politics.

Read this book to understand honesty, frailty, courage, industry, belief and about rising above yourself driven by vision and ideals.  

  

Sujata Garimella

Politics: Maharashtra and Mumbai??? Why not?

The latest to draw the ire and fire of the Marathi manoos, namely the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is a proudly fellow Maharashtrian, Shobhaa De. Having followed De’s columns fairly regularly, her pride in Maharashtra and in being Maharastrian is inescapable. She pretty much deifies all Marathi celebrities and even semi-brities. She is a true blue Marathi manoos pretty much to the core.

So what made her fellow Marathi brethren shower their wrath on her? In the drama over creating a Telangana state out of Andhra Pradhesh, De tweeted: “Maharashtra and Mumbai??? Why not? Mumbai has always fancied itself as an independent entity, anyway. This game has countless possibilities.”

Bas. This clearly satirical tweet sealed her fate. Demonstrations outside her house and character assassinations became the order of her day. Nitesh Rane (31-year old son of politician  Narayan Rane a freshly minted politician himself)responded by tweeting: "Rather than twitter, Shoba De shud say the same thing on the streets of Mumbai openly after which she won't be left with any 'shoba' forever." The Shiv Sena alleged that De was talking as if she was drunk after a Page 3 party. Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut said the state government should register an offence against this bai for her remark. Placards held by Shiv Sena demonstrators outside her house questioned her vocation.  

Was any of this really called for? It became such a massive issue that some news channels spent an entire evening discussing this.

It is not even like De has said something new. The agitation for dividing what was Bombay State at the time of independence into two linguistically divided states started in the 1940s and gained momentum in the early 1950s. It was the Samyukta Maharashtra Andolan. At the same time, the Bombay Citizen’s Committee which comprised the country’s leading businessmen insisted on Bombay being a separate state. Jawharlal Nehru too was in favour of a separate Bombay state/union territory. In 1955 the States Reorganisation Committee submitted its report to the Indian Government recommending a bilingual state for Maharashtra–Gujarat with Bombay as its capital.

The fight over Bombay never ceased. While a majority of the population spoke Marathi, it was recognised that Bombay became the financial centre of India because of the Parsis, Marwaris, Gujaratis and even Sindhis. (Just an aside, the Sindh province in Pakistan was carved out of Bombay Presidency which was later renamed as Bombay State).

There have always been rumours about an underground movement led by the business community and the intelligentsia of the city constantly lobbying for a statehood of Bombay. They fear that the cosmopolitan nature of the city which gives Bombay its colour, character and charisma will be diluted and destroyed if it is not carefully preserved and protected by making it an independent state. Over the past 5 decades, they say that their fears are actually coming true. It is a well-known and documented fact that the highest taxes are paid by Mumbai/Bombay to the national coffers. The average citizen feels resentful that despite this, they suffer poor infrastructure. They too believe that if Mumbai became an independent state, the citizens would receive a better deal.

So De was not really saying anything new or unique.

In the unlikely eventuality of Mumbai actually becoming a state, it would have more population than Goa, Delhi, Pondicherry (three of the newly created states in India) and a few others too. It would probably have a representation of 6 MPs and almost 40 MLAs. That is a fairly respectable number.

The history and figures seem to suggest there is something in the thought of Maharashtra and Mumbai. Actually, why not?