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| Home > Luminaries of the Indian Film Industry > Actresses in Indian Cinema
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| | Actresses in Indian Cinema
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Innovative women roles in Indian films, especially mainstream cinema, are very few. However, some creative directors, working within the mainstream format, have given us some meaty characters. Several women-significant films were made in the early days of Indian cinema like "Achut Kanya," which touched the theme of untouchability. Bimal Roy made a few films inspired by the novels of Sarat Chatterjee like "Biraj Bou", "Devdas" and "Parineeta." "Biraj Bou" was a film based on a selfless Indian woman, who endured hardship and pain for the sake of her husband. Films like "Ramer Sumoti," based on a Sarat Chaterjee work, were remarkable and depicted the love and warmth which existed within the extended Indian joint family.
In later days, filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee gave us memorable heroine-oriented films in "Guddi," "Abhimaan", "Mili", "Khubsuroot", and "Majhli Didi".  "Guddi" and "Khubsuroot" were simple films in which the heroine matures from a chirpy girl into womanhood. "Abhiman," inspired by "A star is born," dealt with ego clashes when a woman`s musical talent and fame surpasses that of her husband. "Majhli Didi" was again based on a Sarat Chandra novel, about a woman`s compassion towards an orphaned child. Basu Bhattacharyya`s "Griha Pravesh" was a realistic depiction of the obsession of a married man for a much younger office colleague. Raj Kapoor`s "Prem Rog" was a convincing portrait of the agony of a young widow. A few years back, Basu Chaterji`s "Triyacharittar" was a powerful film on exploitation of women.
Bengali filmmaker Tapan Sinha has created strong female characters in several of his films viz "Jatugriho", "Adalat O Ekti Mey", "Apanjan", "Nirjan Saikate" and others. "Jatugriho" dealt with marital discord, the bone of contention being the infertility of the woman. "Apanjan" was remade in Hindi as "Mere Apne" by Gulzar, and had an elderly woman as the protagonist who finds, in some unemployed street boys, a reason to live when her own relatives forsake her. "Nirjan Saikatey" dealt with the plight of five elderly widows, while "Adalat O ekti Mey" was on a rape victim shunned by everyone. Asit Sen`s "Deep Jele Jai," remade in Hindi as "Khamoshi" was on a nurse who eventually becomes insane play-acting with a patient.
Strong female roles have also been witnessed in parallel cinema. Here, Mrinal Sen appears to have an edge over others. His "Neel Akaser Neechey" (1959) was a beautiful film about a brother-sister relationship between a Chinese hawker and a Bengali housewife. "Punoscho"(1961) dealt with the question of economic need of the heroine, a theme later tackled by Satyajit Ray in "Mahanagar." The roles of the female protagonist in Sen`s "Bhuvan Shome", "Khandahaar," "Ek Din Pratidin", "Antareen" and others have been an interesting mix of innovation and fresh characterization. Satyajit Ray`s films have female characters of substance. In "Pather Panchali" the relationship between Durga, an innocent but mischievous girl and her grandmother Chunnibala was beautifully depicted. "Charulata" based on a Tagore`s novel dealt with marital discord with much finesse. "Devi" was on religious bigotry when an elderly man starts thinking of his daughter-in-law as a Goddess after a dream.
Ritwik Ghatak`s "Meghe Dhaka Tara" and "Subarnarekha" are considered path-breaking films about the agony of the Bangladeshi refugees, shown through the eyes of the woman protagonist. Aparna Sen`s "36 Chowringhee Lane" is an unforgettable film exploring the loneliness of an elderly Anglo-Indian lady. Sen`s other efforts "Paroma" and "Sati" questioned the traditional roles of women in Indian society. Nabyendu Chaterji`s "Atmaja" had a power-packed role of a mother caught between the divergent ideologies of her two sons, enacted with conviction by Gauri Ghosh. Nabyendu Chaterji`s latest "Sauda" (Bengali) reveals negative shades of some women characters.
Shyam Benegal in films like "Ankur", "Sardari Begum" and "Mammo" have given us some unusual female characters. "Mammo" was an elderly lady who went through an ordeal when she comes to visit her relatives in partitioned India from Pakistan. Govind Nihalani in "Rukmavati ki Haveli", "Dhristi", "Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa" has given us women characters of myriad hues. "Dhristi" was on marital discord, while "Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa" saw Jaya Bachchan giving a fine performance as a woman trying to cope with the death of her son. Ketan Mehta`s "Mirch Masala" with the powerful actress Smita Patil demonstrated the strength of women, when a group of village women unitedly bring about the fall of a tyrant police officer.
 Muzaffar Ali`s "Umraao Jaan" gave Rekha one of her finest roles in her career as a `kotha ` dancer. A disabled dancer overcoming her problems to rise to great heights in her field was the subject of "Nache Mayuri," with Sudha Chandran playing the lead role. Prakash Jha`s "Mrityudand" witnessed a new face of the educated Indian women, willing to rebel and fight for her rights.
Likewise, Deepa Mehta`s "Fire" brought to the fore hitherto taboo subjects like lesbianism to the Indian screen for the first time. Women characters in Mahesh Bhatt`s "Arth", "Swayam", "Kaash" and "Tamanna" were interesting. Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi gave great performances in "Arth" while in "Kaash," the wife tries to cope with a failed actor husband who turns a derelict and a little son diagnosed with a terminal disease.  Likewise Gulzar`s "Andhi", Mausam" and "Koshish" and Kalpana Lazmi`s "Ek Pal" was noteworthy. "Aandhi," was on the life of a lady politician and in "Koshish," Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri gave mind-blowing performances as a hearing impaired couple. Sai Paranjype`s "Saaz" and "Sparsh" deserves a mention. Amol Palekar`s "Dayaara" and "Kairee," too, are exceptional. "Dayaraa" dealt with the life of a transvestite. "Kairee" is about a little girl and her relationship with her aunt. "Rao Saheb," "Chakra" "Mother India" and "Dahej" dealt with the theme of subjugated women who were exploited.
Yash Chopra`s portrayal of women have been extraordinary. Be it Nanda in the role of a murderer in "Ittefaq" or that of Rekha and Jaya Bachchan in "Silsila" women in his films have been consciously different from their peers. Recently the film "Astitva" explored sensitively a women`s role in a marriage when her husband discovers after twenty-five years that his wife had a sexual relationship with a man which resulted in an offspring and the latter is actually the same whom he had been considering his own son.
In conclusion, several filmmakers have earnestly tried to portray women in a dignified, realistic, and an intriguing way and have succeeded considerably. Of this genre, filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Mahesh Bhatt, Amol Palekar, Tapan Sinha and Girish Kasaravalli and a few others seems to have given us the best of such women-significant films.
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