I am completely hooked on to this song, 'Banjaara', from the film 'Ek villain'.
While I love the song, absolutely soul stirring, I cannot figure out if there is something wrong with Shraddha Kapoor's character.
Meaning, there are moments in the song when she seems a bit mentally challenged - like when she is shrieking with glee at the motor fan-type toy, like when she is dancing in the white dress - first the careful slo-mo movements and then that windmill arm step with the world's widest most daft grin on her face, followed by a cute childlike cutting of the wedding cake with some cute childlike hand clapping, and finally the scene where she falls down, and stays down in that awkward pose for some seconds, but before you can say WTF, starts some hand clapping again and then the raising up of arms happens, all innocent like, indicating to the six men around that she feels the need to be helped up and indicating to the audience that for some, gravity can be a real bitch.
But on the other side of such histrionics are the words of wisdom she spouts - Andhere ko andhera nahin, sirf roshni mita sakti hai, nafrat ko nafrat nahin, sirf pyaar mita sakta hai, and the noble deeds she does - I am guessing (given my vast experience with Hindi cinema) that the elderly wedding she is shown organizing, dancing and cutting cake in, has been solely nurtured on the milk of human kindness flowing out of her saintly person. There are also some kids involved, they are probably homeless, who have undoubtedly been adopted by Ms Mother-Teresa-come-to-life-again. And there are also some romantic scenes with Mr Villain/Gangster. All of these indicate that she is not, in fact, mentally challenged.
They also indicate that I have a special kind of expertise at killing time.
Anyway, so what is the answer to this quandary? How do you explain this diverse character? Is she simply a beautiful girl, pumped up on sugar, channeling the spirit of Mother Teresa? Or is there more?
There is more. Shraddha Kapoor is portraying the character of a girl, who is simply soul. A beautiful soul, who is touched (pun not intended) by everything she encounters - a dance step, a motor fan-type toy, a falling down - she lets it all sink in and enjoys all of these feelings to bits. Javed Akhtar (if he is associated with the film) will describe it more beautifully - Her joyous presence was like the rustle of grass in the meadows, like the pearlescence of the morning dew drop, like the laughter of trees as they swayed in the breeze, like the warmth of the morning sun as it warmed the back of your neck - he will compose it in Hindi of course, and then some Baritone will narrate it as the film introduces its heroine to us - this joyous creature with a heart of gold. She does only two things - experiences the joys of life and performs good deeds for the children, the elderly and some gangsters as well.
So Shraddha Kapoor will be playing this role, which is SO different from how Hindi film heroines are usually portrayed.
NOT.
Hindi films have mostly only portrayed two kinds of women - serious types with hearts of gold, joyous types with hearts of gold. The latter category is what they have latched onto recently, their idea of women's liberation being that a woman is now allowed to laugh, enjoy nature, the wind, the sun, motor fan-type toys etc without being labelled easy or slutty. Think Geet from Jab We Met, a joyous specimen if ever there was one, or Akira from Jab Takk Hai Jaan, whose joy quotient resulted in an earthquake in Japan. Great.
Well, I find this overdose of joy and noble intentions annoying. I am not like this and don't know many women who are. I am NOT cheerful all the time (and never as cheerful as these cinematic women), and unfortunately, I rarely do anything which can be classified as noble. I am too busy being involved in my own life and those of my loved ones to have the bandwidth to make a difference to the children, the elderly and the gangsters. I have regrets about things I didn't do right and didn't do well. I don't chatter away ad infinitum, I don't spew holy diktats on 'how to live your life and love your neighbor' to all and sundry.
I am complicated, struggling, conflicted and flawed. And I would like to see more women like me in Hindi cinema.
To be fair there have been a few: Tabu in Astitva, Rani M in No One Killed Jessica, Alia Bhatt in Highway, Parineeti C in Hasee toh Phasee, Kangana R in Queen and yes, even Sonam K in Ranjhanaa.
These movies are certainly not perfect but best of all, these characters are not perfect. They aren't uni-dimensional, they have/portray real world problems like infidelity, women's rights, coming-of-age and discovery of self, social awkwardness, even selfishness. The triumph of Ranjhanaa, Hasee toh Phasee and Highway is that these films are not 'women-oriented' but have equally meaty roles for the men as well. The choice isn't between making a film only about a woman's perspective or giving her the depth of an amoeba.
Well, going by the above, definitely does seem like things are changing - from a handful of Shabana Azmi movies a few decades ago to many more now.
But till the time that portraying a real person who also happens to be a woman and the heroine becomes imperative, we have these stereotypes and worse, the decoration pieces to deal with. These heart of gold types, for whom the hero feels absolutely compelled to change his evil ways, and horror of horrors, even become a human umbrella. Ankit has never shown any inclination ever to shield me from the sun with his person, that's a bummer. But on the other hand, he has never shown any inclination to choose a gangster's life as his profession, so overall, I think I might have lucked out.
