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Vishal Bhardwaj, the celebrated film director, music composer and playback singer, shared some stories from his interesting journey, with creating strong women characters in Indian Cinema.
Director Vishal Bhardwaj has given us many memorable films like Maqbool, Omkara, Haider, Kaminey, 7 Khoon Maaf – with strong plotlines and melodious music. Shakespearean tragedies have often inspired him. His adaptations of Macbeth (Maqbool), Othello (Omkara) and Hamlet (Haider) into Indian contexts are very well done.
Bharadwaj feels that his initial ignorance towards Shakespearean literature was bliss as he could fearlessly adapt ‘Macbeth’. He initiated a brand new genre in Bollywood when he successfully premiered Maqbool in 2003 at the Toronto Film Festival.
Most of his films are noted for exceptionally good music, with Gulzar being a frequent collaborator and often joining him in the studio. Many twists and the portrayal of characters in grey shades are prominent characteristics of his work. His movies have been screened in various prestigious international film festivals and he has received a number of accolades for his immense contribution to the world of Indian Cinema. He has been honoured with the National Award multiple times for his exemplary film direction and music composition.
At the Bangalore Poetry Festival, the Women’s Web team got an opportunity to interact with Vishal Bhardwaj. When the female characters in his films were appreciated he said, “I personally feel that women are stronger characters than men.” He also agreed to the fact that women-centric movies are getting enormous encouragement from producers, as well as the audiences, with reference to major hits like Raazi and Queen. He also spoke of how he intentionally creates flawed characters that reflect reality, rather than being superhuman or perfect.
During the interview, he also spoke about why he named his new book of poetry, ‘Nude’ and about his upcoming comedy-drama Pataakha, a firecracker of a story of two sisters. The unveiled poster of this new film has already created a huge buzz and the trailer will be out on 15th August. The interview ended on a thoughtful note with the recitation of one of his beautiful poems. Watch below, this exclusive interview!
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The plight of Indian women's mental health often goes unnoticed. Co-founders Vivek Satya Mitram and Pooja Priyamvada conceived the idea of the Bharat Dialogues Women & Mental Health Summit to address this.
Trigger Warning: This contains descriptions of mental health trauma and suicide, and may be triggering for survivors.
Author’s note: The language and phraseology used are not the author’s words but the terms and narrative popularly used for people living with mental illnesses, and may feel non-inclusive. It is merely for putting our point across better.
I have seen how horrifying was the treatment given to those with mental illness.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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