I was recently watching Mirch, a 2010 Indian film by
Vinay Shukla. The film is an adaptation of 4 short stories from the
Panchatantra evolving into modern tales which talk about willy women (Konkona
Sen Sharma and Raima Sen) having their way with sexual encounters (often
extra-marital). I congratulate Shukla on bringing this story to the Indian
screen- a story which acknowledges and also celebrates women’s emancipation. While most stories involve
women’s desires outside marriage, the third story featuring Raima Sen and
Shreyas Talpade is a thinker. Raima Sen is the perfect wife, unabashed in
expressing her affections to her husband (Talpade) who misinterprets these
loving gestures and questions her character. Now this is highly insulting to a
woman who, in all fidelity, reserves her sexual advances only for her
husband. As you may guess, it is his
doubtful and distrusting nature which eventually leads her to find solace in
the arms of another man.
This brings us to the pressing question, why are Indians so critical of their women having an active libido? How is it that a man is granted 42 virgins in the afterlife while a woman’s eternal bliss is limited to being one with the Almighty? There is a flaw in the nature’s balance here if women are expected to be devoid of the same sexual thirst that beckons men.
With the pace of development, women now have access to contraceptives and lubricants, but are still frowned at when they ask for the same at a departmental store. A prejudice of this nature in a land which gave the world Kama sutra?
While on the subject of Kama sutra, let me talk about the highly misunderstood Mira Nair film of the same name which was banned in the land which gave it material to script from. A poignant portrayal of caste-system and a woman’s desire to be above herself is ridiculed by film critics when they slot it as soft porn.
Kama sutra is an ancient art but long
forgotten. Women are an interesting study in the greatest epic- Mahabharata. The
tale has many illegitimate children borne out of a man’s sporadic desire when
he sees an undesirable woman. Even ascetics are not spared and enjoy all
earthly pleasures. While earth-ridden women were simply a mean to satiate a
man’s thirst, celestial nymphs such as Urvashi had a healthy sexual appetite (which
she consummates with mortals) while married to Indra. Herein lies the dichotomy
of the Indian epic, mortal women are mere tools while Goddesses are worshipped.
Speaking of
Goddesses, the latest indie film to have mildly shaken the audience is The
Angry Indian Goddesses. It follows the story of a group of women on a trip to
Goa where each has a chance to disconnect with the world and discover herself.
The light-hearted film takes a ghastly turn when the one of the protagonist is
brutally gang-raped and murdered. The last few minutes are a harrowing
experience and, as is the case with most similar situations, the film ends on a
cliff-hanger. The character in question is a sweet unassuming young Bollywood
starlet who is harbors naive sexy dreams about her hot next-door neighbor in
the course of the film. These dreams are funny as well as endearing, involving
some silly intimate moments only the inexperienced can dream of. Unfortunately
before these dreams can fly, the world has meted its brutality to her.
As I walked out of the theater, I heard one man say to his friend, “Usko jo chahiye tha poore film me (Sex), woh end mil hi gaya! (Rape).”
Giggles followed.
What do you say to that?
-Surabhi
Udas
