Queen

The most famous feminist judgement of film is the Bechdel test, which asks if a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added. This would seem like a small ask- I spend most of my time talking to other women about things other than men, and we all have names. The test doesnt ask if the film reinforces gender stereotypes, or if they are discussing child-rearing, or if they get fridged. They just have to have names and not talk about men the whole time. And a shocking number of films fail the test. Below is a comparison chart of the number of lines of dialogue between men and women in Bollywood films based on scripts available to researchers online - not strictly the Bechdel test, but if women have no dialogue, the film can't pass the test. Even Pink (2016)- a film about the experience of women in the Indian court system- has significantly less female dialogue than male.

Male dialogue blue, female dialogue red 

Queen (2013), however, does very nicely. Currently streaming on Netflix, Queen is a film about agency, friendship, and liberation from one's own fears. The lead character, Rani, begins the film a heartbroken jilted bride and ends the film a self-possessed woman who sees a life of possibilities far beyond her past aspirations.

Rani and Vijay, Source: Viacom18

As writer Arushi Kapoor pointed out, Queen was, "arguably, the most feminist film in Bollywood post the 2000’s and definitely a lesson in Feminism 101..." From the lovely female friendships and sex-positivity to the *shocking* suggestion that just because he loves her she doesnt have to love him back, Queen puts Rani, her relationships, and her journey of self-discovery front and center.

Rani before the wedding

The film opens with preparations for a wedding. Rani (breakout star Kangana Ranaut), a middle-class young woman in Delhi is marrying the son of a family friend- Vijay (Rajkummar Rao)- who breaks off the engagement the day before the wedding. Heartbroken Rani decides to go on her honeymoon anyway, to Paris and then on to Amsterdam.

Rani's parents are not thrilled, but do not stand in her way. Rani's dynamite grandmother (Tripta Lakhanpal) encourages her, telling her that before Partition, she was in love with Faisal, who, she notes, was "very cute." In the refugee camp outside Delhi she met Rani's grandfather, who looked handsome in the lamplight of the tent. No doubt she loved him for his mind. She encourages Rani to get out of the hotel in Paris and meet someone new. Rani's grandmother is the sex-positive role model we all need, and just one of many multi-dimensional supporting characters to grace the film.

Vijaylaxmi (Lisa Haydon) who Rani meets in Paris, is especially enjoyable. Vijay, as she prefers, is a half-Indian single mother with a job, friends, lovers, and chutzpah. The film's portrayal of Roxette (Sabeeka Imam), a friend of Vijay who happens to be a sex worker in Amsterdam, never feels preachy but makes no apologies. Roxette is a woman who doesnt need to be rescued.

Back in Paris, in addition to friendship Vijay also appreciates the power of a makeover, and over the course of the film Rani's wardrobe choices subtly become more her own. This is only one of the ways the film appreciates nuance- the flashbacks to memories of fiance Vijay's desire for control over Rani's behavior are beautifully timed, and Rani's intense friendships formed while traveling feel genuine. When Rani leans into her first new relationship I cheered out loud (get it, girl!) and I held my breath when she saw Vijay again. It is easy to care about Rani- she is remarkable in her ordinariness.

Me in Seoul

The idea of traveling somewhere else to become yourself has been played out across time and across the globe from Abraham to Bilbo Baggins and Odysseus. But how many stories have been written about women traveling to find themselves? Women are sometimes the destination but they are rarely the explorer. While Rani finds her own power when she fights off a mugger in Paris. She finds her independence when she checks into her hostel in Amsterdam. In Paris the room was booked under his name, but in Amsterdam the hostel is booked under her own. When Rani returns to Delhi, everyone comments on her appearance, but what has changed is not her hair but her outlook.

I could probably find things to criticize about Queen. But frankly I dont want to. It has been a rough year for women in America, and if Queen wants to show us an optimistic, empowering, feminist happy ending I will take it.

My general feelings about this film

For a summary of the research study mentioned at the beginning of the post, please see Sahil Rizwan's "10 Eye-Opening Revelations About Sexism In Bollywood From A Study Of Over 4,000 Films". For an introduction to #metoo in India in 2017, please read Sumati Thusoo's article in The Wire. For a user-generated pass/fail of movies, please visit http://bechdeltest.com/. The conversations within the site are fascinating- debates usually hinge on one single scene which might or might not allow the movie to pass the test. The fact that there might or might not be a single scene in the film that meets the criteria is abysmal. But here is a list of 25 more (from Hollywood) that do. 

Film: Queen (2013)

Director: Vikas Bahl

Writer: Anvita Dutt Guptan, Kangana Ranaut

Screenplay: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar, Parveez Shaikh

Run time: 146 minutes

Country: India

Language: Hindi, English, French 

Dev.D

Devdas, written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and published in 1917 in Kolkata, is one of the classics of Indian literature. It has been adapted for the silver screen more than a dozen times across the years, but my favorite version is Dev.D (2009).

Paro scandalizes at her wedding

Director Anurag Kashyap approached the well-known story with a very specific vision. Dev.D is aggressive and flashy and loud. The music is hip and the retelling emphasizes that the story is as modern as it was in 1917. Boy (Dev, played by indie star Abhay Deol) goes to the city and gets confused, girl (Paro, played by the radiant Mahie Gill) stays behind and pines. Boy blows chance with girl. Girl marries someone else in revenge. Boy goes to city and destroys his life while sex-worker Leni/Chanda (Kalki Koechlin in her first Hindi role) falls in love with him.

Dev is not a nice character, and he is not nice to the women in his life.  He is a hypocrite about sex who doesn't believe women when they contradict something he hears from a man. He sinks into a life of debauchery, drugs, and self-pity when he is too proud to admit his mistakes, and eventually commits manslaughter. And it is still more uplifting than the original.

The India of Dev.D isn't nice to women either.  Paro, who is sexy and smart and angry, is undervalued by her family and Dev, and lashes out with violence, plainspoken cruelty, and by marrying an older man she doesn't love.

Leni and Dev

India is cruel to Leni as well. This is the first version I have ever come across in which Chanda gets a real back-story- in this case, based on a sex scandal from 2004 involving two students. Leni, a 17-year old student, is caught in a web of societal hypocrisy. Her father is so shamed by the publicity he kills himself. Sent to the country until the scandal dies down, Leni refuses to be exiled. Shunned by family and friends when she returns to Delhi, Leni turns college student by day, sex worker by night. Her refusal to apologize, to feel shamed, to curl up and die- Leni is an amazing character. She builds a life for herself in the brothel, and is doing fine until Dev comes along. Leni's story is told with sensitivity and humor, and a recognition that she is a survivor. The scene in the swimming pool, in which Chanda recounts to Dev her father’s reaction to her scandal, and Dev repeats to her the words she wishes her father had said to her is intimate and sad. Why either women cares about Dev is a mystery- although to his credit, by the end of the film it is also a mystery to Dev.

Dev and SRK as Devdas

Throughout the film Kashyap cleverly references 2002 adaptation of Devdas, a masala version starring SRK, Aishwarya Rai Bachan, and Madhuri Dixit. Leni takes her professional name Chanda, from Chandramukhi, the tawaiff in Devdas after watching "Maar Dala" the most famous song from the hugely expensive and popular 2002 version.

By the time Devdas was published in 1917, the Indian film industry was already established. The first filmed version of Devdas was released in 1928. I have not been able to track that down, but the 1935 and 1936 versions are on youtube.  Guru Dutt's classic Pyaasa (1957) is also based on the story. For more information about classic Indian cinema, please see the National Film Archive in Pune. For a discussion of the history of Delhi's red light district, please see "A search for Old Delhi’s courtesans reveals a present that’s not always comfortable with the past", by Ranjana Dave.

Film: Dev.D (2009)

Delhi's Red Light District

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Writer: Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane

Language: Hindi, English, Punjabi, French, Tamil 

Country: India

Run time: 144 min 

Producer: Ronnie Screwvala