(Re) Thinking women in cinema: The changing narrative structure in Bollywood

Abstract

ABSTRACTOver a period of time, Cinema has become an emphatic medium to introduce some major questions in society. The changing depiction of women in Indian Cinema from being labelled as weak and objectified to being shown as strong lead characters have been quite evident. Though there has been a considerable attempt to show the changing status of women in Bollywood in recent films like Piku (2015), Nil BateySannata (2016) and Anarkali of Arrah (2017) with leading female characters who are independent and move beyond the lines of gender stereotypes and patriarchal influences but the lack of complex narrative structure and the lucidity in the narrative techniques fail to make the desired critical impact.