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So many of our movies show the heroine in a wet sari, gyrating under a waterfall or in rain. What is with the Indian man's obsession with this?
So many of our movies show the heroine in a wet sari, gyrating under a waterfall or in rain. What is with the Indian man’s obsession with this?
Disclaimer: The following post has culminated from engagingly silly thoughts of a random lazy afternoon, and the article in no way demands to be taken seriously.
Dream sequence begins. Sridevi steps into the rain in her blue chiffon sari, singing and dancing with Anil Kapoor. Her slim hourglass figure wrapped in the thin, body-hugging fabric made thousands of Indian men wish that they were Mr. India.
(source: Giphy)
There was a period when almost every mainstream Bollywood heroine had donned the wet sari to keep filmmakers happy and the male gaze hooked.
The trend has been fading over the years (isn’t a bikini scene easier to shoot and a lot more revealing?) but many remixed songs in movies keep resurrecting the dripping-wet trend to catch the eye of those who miss the good old wet scenes.
(source: Amuserr)
So why did the sari become the crazy Bollywood sexual innuendo?
An on-screen steamy shower scene was kind of prohibited in a twisted way, just like many other acts. Bollywood finally came up with a subtle (not-so-subtle) equivalent of that too, the wet sari! And let’s face it, people were getting bored of those two garden flowers kissing each other, so they did need a euphemism replacement.
(source: Tumblr)
Global warming: Raj Kapoor did introduce the drenched six-yard fabric on screen but the wet sari was at its peak in the 80s, 90s and 00s, the decades revealing a depleting Indian climate. The viewers could use a rainy sight, right?
(source: HalfChocolate)
Every other romantic/lustful song lyrics mentioned the never-ending pyaas of the hero, thus the wetness on land and the object (read: heroine) was the perfect contrast. Is that why the hero would try licking off water drops from her neck? (Eww)
(source: India Forums)
I interacted with a few others who had significant thoughts to share on the issue. “Why do we overanalyze issues? Maybe the heroine herself demanded a good shower. Sleepless nights and busy schedules, you know? Baths are time-consuming,” said one.
Another girl revealed her fantasy that never came true on-screen – “Farah Khan kept showing Shah Rukh’s wet shirt. My wish to see him in a wet sherwani remains unheard,” she sighed.
The modern Indian heroine isn’t a chiffon-clad woman anymore, leading to the fall of the trend that once kept the male gaze hooked to dripping bodies on screen. All those men have my deepest sympathy, now that we don’t see the wet sari and the drenched sari-clad heroine as much as many would like.
Nevertheless people will keep fantasizing about dripping wet clothes and kissing flowers. If you have any more awkward ideas for on-screen romance, let us know!
Header image is a still from the movie Mr India
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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