Representation of Women in Indian Cinema: An Analysis of Women- Centric Bollywood Movies

Indian society is a cinema obsessed society, where films act largely as social mirrors. Films are the true reflection of the values and norms of the society. Cinema has such a deep impact on the minds of the society. No other medium could ever achieve this important position. Throughout the journey of cinema, the placement of women remains central, even if their roles are not primary and a peripheral. The focus remains on their body or beauty. The portrayal of women in Indian Hindi cinema has not elevated womanhood rather it has always degraded.
The present paper highlights the contribution of Hindi movies of Bollywood which have addressed the cause of women-empowerment. There is a chunk of film-makers who have raised their voice against the stereotypes set by mainstream cinema through their movies. By picturizing extraordinary themes, they have tried to portrayed women as central to the story line; these film-makers are exploring subjects from the women’s perspective. These films have forced creators to take a fresh look at the different roles played by women and introspect into the kind of typecast that were being perpetuated earlier. Bringing these issues on the big screen has become possible due to the current crop of actresses who have not been hesitant to accept bold roles.
The paper concludes that those films which project women in the rational perspective, get attention and appreciation of the masses. There is a need of those filmmakers, who can construct films portraying strong, self-reliant and purposeful women protagonists who are able to set out and rise beyond their conventional concerns.