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How many Indian households can boast of a father who rebels against all odds just to help his daughter reach the zenith of success? Very few, like Gunjan Saxena's father.
How many Indian households can boast of a father who rebels against all odds just to help his daughter reach the zenith of success? Very few, like Gunjan Saxena’s father.
“Plane ladka udaye ya ladki, woh pilot hi kehlata hai” (Irrespective of who flies a plane man or woman, the person at the controls is called a pilot) is one of the best statements by Gunjan Saxena’s father who unlike most Indian fathers does not miss a single opportunity to become the wind beneath his daughter’s aspirations!
Thank God for such fathers who feel that a woman just like her male counterparts is out there to fulfill her dreams and that there is nothing abnormal about that.
Gender inequality is rampant and is prevalent since time immemorial. But it’s time we have individuals like Gunjan Saxena’s father, Lieutenant Anup Saxena, who transcends beyond the stereotypical conventions that the society demands a woman to be confined in.
Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl chronicles the journey of some serious gender discriminations against the protagonist and how her father stands by her undeterred!
Unfortunately men are preordained to perform well at everything they take up, however when women decide to do the same, they raise quite a few eyebrows. Women often face extremely sexist remarks which are at times explicit or implicit, Gunjan is no exception.
It’s disheartening to note that while being at work she is denied the basic- a women’s toilet or even a changing area that leaves her often embarrassed in front of her male counterparts!
This also hampers her work until she invents a makeshift area behind the almirah to change for work! Is this even close to women empowerment that we cry our lungs out every day? This is not even administering the basic rights to a woman that she deserves leave alone giving her equal importance as her male colleagues.
However it is brilliant to see how on one hand if there are handful of men who try and curtail her aspirations at every stage on the other hand she has another man as the rock solid pillar who constantly becomes the wind beneath her wings to help her scale greater heights- Gunjan’s father! When the entire world walks out on her it is her father who stands by her undeterred; it is his unwavering belief in his daughter that helps Gunjan Saxena become the Kargil girl that she intended to.
While Sharan Sharma makes a compelling directorial debut highlighting brutal patriarchy and its impact on a woman’s dreams, ultimately what wins our heart is the ode to the father-daughter relationship that becomes the strong subplot of the film.
How many Indian households can boast of a father who rebels against all odds just to help his daughter reach the zenith of success? Very few!
Unfortunately Indian society doesn’t really encourage parents to bring up their children specially girls with a lot of courage and boldness. In a society where marriage is still a sacrosanct affair the camaraderie between Gunjan Saxena and her father Anuj Saxena as portrayed by director Sharan Sharma is purely a breath of fresh air! It gives hope to many daughters in Indian households to dream, and opportunities for fathers to treat their daughter and son equally irrespective of what the societal expectations burden them with!
Set in 1999 the idea of battling fierce patriarchy and undue gender discrimination, Gunjan Saxena, The Kargil Girl becomes a prelude to many such tales that would hopefully bring in a great paradigm shift in the minds of Indian audience at large!
A dire penchant for words, can summarize my life as “My pen bleeds my life”! read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
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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