From Piku To Queen, 11 Bollywood Movies Where The Woman Wasn’t Reduced To Someone’s Love Interest

For many years, Bollywood screenwriters have strived to develop self–ample, actually impartial, and relatable feminine characters. Nevertheless, just a few feminine protagonists, in movies like Lajja, Black, or Chandni Bar, stood out from the abla naari or manic pixie dream woman tropes. 

The brand new-age girls in Indian cinema lastly discovered their voice with the inflow of feminine filmmakers who introduced a recent narrative and a handful of male administrators who defied stereotypes. These feminine characters, who had been as soon as diminished to turning into somebody’s lover or spouse, now have their very own id.

Listed below are just a few of these uncommon characters From Bollywood films who had been extra than simply somebody’s love curiosity:

1. Piku in Piku 

Piku, an unabashed feminist movie directed by Shoojit Sircar, defied a number of gender conventions in its portrayal of feminine characters. The lead’s id was impartial of any of the male characters within the movie who may have been her love curiosity. Sircar is to be counseled for not forcing her to “settle” for a person with the intention to present us with a “comfortable ending.”

2. Amrita in Thappad 

Anubhav Sinha’s Thappad was some of the excellent cinematic works we have seen in current a number of years. Even if the protagonist, Armita, is launched as somebody’s partner, the filmmaker truly provides her a voice ultimately. Remarkably, this movie resists including a male savior, which is a prevalent trope in our movies, to rescue the feminine lead. 

3. Sandeep in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar

A movie with a singular narrative, which could have acquired polarising critiques, challenged the patriarchal norms of society and poisonous masculinity. Sandeep, performed by Parineeti Chopra, was a younger and financially impartial girl who’s confronted with the dreadful standing of girls in our society.

4. Sandhya in Pagglait 

The movie begins when Sandhya’s partner passes away. The plot then shifts to the lifetime of a widow who learns the reality about their relationship. Nevertheless, as she explores life past their marriage, the character refuses to be restricted her “accepted” place in society as a widow.

5. Vidya in Kahaani 

Any male character that ever involves the rescue of the feminine protagonist finally falls in love together with her. The lead of Sujoy Ghosh’s thriller Vidya, alternatively, doesn’t meet the identical destiny. Even if she had folks aiding her to discover her husband’s assassin, she stays the hero of the story.

6. Kaira in Expensive Zindagi 

Gauri Shinde’s Expensive Zindagi is distinctive in lots of features, however most notably for its fantastically written principal character. Kiara was certainly a very relatable character that, regardless of her love life struggles, was simply a lot greater than her romantic woes.

7. Rani in Queen 

Queen, directed by Vikas Bahl, was one of many first women-centric movies of its time, driving solely on the shoulder of its feminine lead. It was refreshing to look at a lady, who had been dumped by her fiancee a day earlier than her wedding ceremony, uncover herself. Actually, the storyline rightly dodges the character from ending up with one other man in the direction of the climax. 

8. Sona in Luck By Probability 

Luck By Probability, directed by Zoya Akhtar, featured some of the highly effective climaxes I’ve ever seen. Sona, performed by Konkona Sen Sharma, shines out as a powerful feminine character who strikes on from her ex-lover and provides the viewers hope for a brand new starting.

9. Pooja in Arth 

The cinematic account of Mahesh Bhatt’s relationship with actress Parveen Babi was introduced within the movie Arth. Nevertheless,  Pooja, Inder’s spouse, performed by Shabana Azmi, was a determine who stayed the movie’s beating coronary heart. She finds love once more after leaving a shattered marriage, however she refuses to surrender her newfound individualism.

10. Aditi in Astitva 

Astitva, starring Tabu, is among the few movies that has managed to keep away from its feminine protagonist being eclipsed by the male leads. The social drama, which centres round a lonely marriage, follows a lady’s journey to realize company over her personal life.

11. Shashi in English Vinglish  

“Mujhe pyaar ki zarurat nahi hai, zarurat hai to sirf thodi izzat ki,” Shashi says in a scene from the movie, which aptly sums up the character’s journey of discovering her place in her household in addition to the society. No matter the truth that she has a male character who falls for her, she is just centered on one factor: forging her personal id.

Even biopics like Gangubai Kathiawadi or Gunjan Saxena had been a lady’s story, barring tales of her love life. The variety of female-led Bollywood films bringing forth new narratives has been steadily growing. We have seen dramatic shifts in storytelling, particularly with the rise of OTT content material.