Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
The story of why I created these digital illustrations featuring badass heroines at Queens OnScreen. Check them out.
The story of why I, Shivani Gorle, created these digital illustrations featuring badass heroines at Queens OnScreen. Check them out.
Last month, I started a series of fun illustrations of powerful female characters from the movies called Queens OnScreen. I believe everyone needs to appreciate that films have finally begun to lay an emphasis on strong, feminist and well-rounded characters, which I bring forth with my digital drawings.
The idea behind the series is that the heroine is just as badass as the hero. That she doesn’t need to talk, dress or behave in a particular way to win hearts. Or not win hearts. Because she can do whatever the hell she wants.
I set out to pick bold and powerful female characters from both Hindi and Hollywood films. To add a bit of quirk to the series, I created a circular format. Now every time I go to my Queens OnScreen Instagram account, I feel some sort of OCD-fueled satisfaction. I have a thing for circles! (Completely irrelevant fact: my room has a circular bed, 6 circular ceiling lamps, circle-themed closets and 2 big hanging hula hoops.)
I also thought it necessary to add the character’s quote from the film, to make the message more effective. For instance, Nina’s “I just want to be perfect” from Black Swan puts her conflict in context and tells us more about her raison d’être. It’s also hard to imagine Geet from Jab We Met without her saying “Main apni favourite hoon”. The dialogue sheds light on who she is as a person.
I use Adobe Illustrator to create these vector portraits. I haven’t professionally been trained in digital illustration, and up until 6 months ago, I was only used to sketching with a physical pen or pencil. So now that my Bamboo drawing tablet and I are new friends, we’re figuring it out as we go. I use my stylus and the brush tool as I would a normal pencil.
From playing Bond and blonde girls, to taking up challenging roles in revolutionary and coming-of-age films, female actors have come a long way since the 20th century. What may have been a sad state-of-affairs for gender equality in the film industry several decades ago, is now slowly adapting to a freer, more diverse and more equal world.
Shivani Gorle
As Oscar Wilde said, Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates life. And that holds doubly true for films, whose messages influence and motivate both the makers and the watchers. I think that with the advent of this feminist wave, only good things are in store for the film industry.
With my work I hope to drive the perception that the movies we watch today are not just for entertainment; they have become real vehicles of social change. Characters like Hermoine from Harry Potter and Shashi from English Vinglish reflect our new experiences as 21st century women in both urban and rural (and magical) settings.
I want all sorts of girls, boys, men and women to look at my art and feel that positive change. I want them to appreciate that that the art they consume holds a mirror to real communities, and that they can always look up to characters that are relatable, if not harbingers of social reform.
In the near future I hope to eventually create Queens OnScreen-based merchandise, by printing these heroines-in-circles on notebooks, t-shirts, badges and canvas bags. Things we could wear to show our feminism off to the world! I currently have 16 in my series – many more illustrations are in the pipeline – and I won’t stop until I touch at least a 100!
You could check my pages out to find out more:
Facebook Instagram
Images source: Shivani Gorle.
I’m 21 and I live in Mumbai. I graduated last year with a bachelor’s degree in mass media - specialising in advertising - from KC College, Churchgate. I’ll be getting my masters in branding read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
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.
Please enter your email address