Ep 007 - How Kiran Rao rewrote women in Hindi cinema

Laapataa Ladies' title is perhaps  indicative of the absence of women in male-centric mainstream entertainment. Of women who are not just decorative, pliant, seductive or suffering endlessly to justify their prominence in a narrative. If you want to see how differently men and women portray female characters , watch Imtiaz Ali's 'She' and Maria Schrader's 'She Said.' The woman in 'She' is a manipulated, sexualised, brutalised being who finds her power in seduction and 'She Said' is the real story of two mothers/journalists who together ended Harvey Weinstein's reign of horror and abuse.

'Laapataa Ladies' is also path breaking in its intention to portray 'ordinary' women as heroic. They don't have to go through great degradation, oppression and pain in order to qualify for greatness. They are not sacrificial mothers, avenging angels, preoccupied with men or children. Feminism here is articulated by women as the freedom to be who they truly are. Unlike Bhansali's cinema where feminine suffering is endlessly glorified.