Strong Female characters of 2017

2017 has been a good year, in some ways, for Bollywood. It had films that were funny, films that were serious, and films that were real. It also had women who made us finally feel like we could identify with them. Not surprisingly, these characters were played by actors who aren’t Bollywood’s most popular. We got to see women who could bring strong characters to life, those who made us laugh and cry with them. Although it would be lovely to see our Deepika, Katrina, and Alias playing similar people in films that break the ?100 Crore barrier.

Here’s a round of applause for Anarkali, buaji and her three cohorts, Mimi, Simran, Sulu, Insiya, Nagma, Jaya. For Alankrita Shrivastava, Konkona Sensharma, Avinash Das, Hansal Mehta, Advait Chandan, Tanuja Chandra, Suresh Triveni. For Ratna Pathak Shah, Swara Bhaskar, Kalki Koechlin, Vidya Balan, Kangana Ranaut, Zaira Wasim, Meher Vij and Parvathy. They have taken a step, or two, forward. They have shown that difference is possible.

The last few years have seen a disastrous roll-back, a shocking regression: the insistence on the virtue of the virginal good woman, the right to permanent deflowering vested in her man, has made a roaring comeback. It is all of a piece with the shrill outrage being mounted against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, a film no one has seen yet. The noise is beyond ridiculous, because from what it looks like, from its trailer, it appears to be a proper little primer for “good” women. Princess Padmavati will have her eyes cast down, only to look up adoringly at her husband. She will dance only for him. She will not be an object of fantasy for a Muslim ruler.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Hadiya shall not switch religions: if she dares to, she will be consigned to being a ward of the state, her adulthood at stake because she exercised her own agency.
Here are the characters who were real, and who made it a treat to watch.

Bitti in Bareily Ki Barfi

Sulu in Tumhari Sulu