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Bollywood (and the Indian society, at large) needs to understand that women's sexuality is real, and lesbians don’t just hold hands and hug each other. They have sex too.
First, I have a few questions.
*Spoilers Alert!
When does Gayatri (Rani Mukerji) find out that her husband is gay in Bombay Talkies (2013)? When her gay male colleague tells her that her husband kissed him.
When does the character of professor Ramchandra Siras (Manoj Bajpayee) get outed as gay in the film Aligarh (2015)? When two men forcefully enter his house and capture the semi-naked images of him and his partner.
Why is Karan (Arjun Mathur) forced to remain closeted throughout his teenage life in Made In Heaven (2019-Present)? Because his mother horribly beats him up after she finds him in the shower with his male friend.
What is the major revelation in the climax scene of The Fame Game (2022)? That the protagonist, Anamika Khanna’s husband had previously tried to kill their son when he’d caught him having sex with his childhood best friend.
There are two things that all of the characters mentioned previously have in common. The first that they are all men and the second that they are homosexual. The reason I am emphasising upon their gender before their sexuality is to highlight an important point – men, no matter what their sexuality is, are always allowed to be sexual.
Exactly a year back, while discussing the film, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019) in a class, a lot of us had argued that the film could not be viewed as an accurate depiction of lesbianism. If we are to compare Sweety’s character from that film to the characters of all the gay men mentioned earlier, we might realise that her family never catches her engaging in any sexual act with her lesbian partner. Her sexuality, instead, is assumed by her elder brother after which she comes out to her family in a ‘socially acceptable’ manner.
In fact, Sweety hardly does anything with her partner that can even remotely be considered as sexual or even romantic.
Today when I sat down to watch Maja Ma (2022), I did so expecting something that would be different from Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga and Dedh Ishqiya (2014). I desperately hoped for Pallavi’s (Madhuri Dixit) character to be allowed what all the gay men had been allowed in Bollywood films and various other Indian web series – the basic right to explore her homosexuality with her lover. However, to my great disappointment, she is denied any and all sexual agency.
In the second half of the film, Pallavi lectures her son about her sexual orientation and explains how she ‘loved’ her ex lesbian partner and did not indulge in any sexual act with her. While it is her choice to decide how and what she wishes to do with her girlfriend, her entire argument seems to be about morals. Not only does she completely separate lesbian love from lesbian sex, she also makes it appear as if all good women must remain virgins till they’re married.
Both of these seem extremely problematic to me.
I have to admit that I did tear up in the end when I saw Pallavi and her ex-lover, Kanchan (Simone Singh) dance wholeheartedly the way they used to when they were young girls in love. Nonetheless, having said that, I must point out the film failed to do justice to the lesbian lovers. They both might have wonderful husbands who might not be against their sexual identities. But, is that a good enough reason for the two women to remain in marriages that lack sexual chemistry?
Bollywood (and the Indian society, at large) needs to understand that lesbians don’t just hold hands and hug each other. They have sex too. No matter how hard it is for our society to accept the fact that it is possible for two women to have sex, sexual intimacy has a huge role to play in a lot of lesbian relationships. Even though sex is not the only important thing in the lives of us lesbians, I feel the need to mention that a lot of us would simply die if we were told that we had to make do with just kissing our partners and looking into their eyes.
A dysgraphic writer who spends most of their time watching (and thinking about) Bollywood films. 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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