Cinema Mirrors Life. 

Cinema mirrors life. As women in India redefine their status and role in society, so is it being reflected in Hindi cinema.

The latest example is Ashutosh Gowariker's ‘Jodhaa Akbar' - the sheer strength of the character of Jodha goes to show the paradigm shift Bollywood has undergone with respect to projecting female leads.

Jodha, essayed by Aishwarya Rai, does not flinch from honouring her duties as a princess and in true spirit of a royal she accepts a marital alliance for the larger good of her people. But Jodha makes no compromises with her core beliefs and principles.

In a patriarchal society like India where social norms continue to stiffen growth of a woman as an individual and an equal partner, Jodha serves as an inspiration as the world celebrated womanhood on the International Women's Day.

Women dominated films, like "Zindaggi Rocks" and "Aaja Nachle", continue to be non-performers at the Indian box-office, but filmmakers can no longer ignore that our female actors themselves are women of much substance and their reel roles are likewise evolving.

Lara Dutta, former beauty queen-turned-female actor, feels that change in the attitude of filmmakers today.

"A perceptible change has happened in the approach about picking up the female actors. Roles are being built around them," she says.

Last year two women centric films came out under the banner of Yash Raj Films, a production house known for hero-dominated mushy romances. Both ‘Laaga Chunri Mein Daag' and ‘Aaja Nachle' were pragmatically different from the formats perfected by the illustrious production house, but they couldn't rock box office.

‘Chak De! India' gave a whole new meaning to women's hockey as the gaggle of girls gave an all-together new meaning to saving the country's honour.

Barring Shah Rukh Khan, a cursory look around and we find it is Indian female actors who are creating a buzz internationally. They have carved out a niche for themselves at the international arena by their presence and personality. The frontrunners among female actors are Aishwarya Rai, Shilpa Shetty and Tabu.

Tabu's ‘The Namesake' was released internationally and garnered rave reviews for her all over. Aishwarya's several overseas projects have landed her with a substantial role in ‘The Pink Panther'. And Shilpa Shetty has charmed many non-Asians across the globe.

Source: HGP