We Indians are passionate movie lovers. Our lives, memories and even thoughts find relevance with some movie we liked or disliked. We laugh, cry, dream and achieve vicariously through its characters. We celebrate our success in any sport as much onscreen as off it. Movies bind us together a nation. However, has the influence that they command over us been used constructively to affect a difference? Movies have been sprinkled with nasty gender stereotypes and dished out to us for years. An honest jobless hero, a meek heroine, a vamp who wears short dresses and smokes or a mother who is either Lalita Pawar or Nirupa Roy, no in-between, are just few of them! For #CauseAChatter and #GenderTalks today I’m discussing how some movies have dared to break away and succeeded.
Little wonder that we’ve often turned to Hollywood and world cinema at large for realistic stories and portrayals. Of course, this doesn’t entail that they don’t resort to any gender stereotypes. The appeal and emotional connect of their content cuts across boundaries and am glad to see our moviemakers slowly catching up with it. I’ve curated a list of progressive movies whose lead characters have broken barriers and what more, excelled at it. Lets take a look at them, shall we?
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Harry Potter series has a lesson for everyone and any list with kickass female leads needs to have Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) at the helm. This adorable know-it-all girl is the friend we love to hate but can’t live without. She’s Harry and Ron’s perennial problem-solver and everything they aren’t; smart, funny, a little smug and with a heart full of love. The guys, for their own benefit, are clever enough to acknowledge it too. Don’t listen to her, she’ll simply say “What an idiot!” and let go.
The Intern (2015)
This Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway movie is as pleasant as a spring morning. Jules is the young founder and CEO of a fashion startup and retired widower Ben joins her company as an intern as part of a senior citizen outreach program. Ben tries to adjust with the changed work culture while guiding Jules in a personal and professional capacity. This unlikely lead pair has an enviable platonic relationship that breaks gender stereotypes in a novel way.
Ki & Ka (2016)
Kia (Kareena Kapoor) and Kabir (Arjun Kapoor) have an unusual modern marriage where a career-driven Kia is the breadwinner while Kabir is happy to be a stay-at-home-husband. Interestingly, what Kia strives to achieve and competes for, Kabir gets with much less effort and lesser intent. This movie explores myriad emotions in a marriage like love, insecurity, jealousy and dominance. Hope that it sets a precedent for our moviemakers to write and present such new topics.
The Incredibles 2 (2018)
The Incredibles, Parr family of superheroes, return with this new instalment to fight an enemy striving to turn the world against all superheroes. Elastigirl is selected for a mission by a rich brother-sister duo to conduct secret missions to restore public faith in them. Meanwhile, Bob assumes the role of a stay-at-home-dad and initially struggles a fair bit through it. An animated movie with a message that breaks gender stereotypes is the perfect way to inspire a generation, isn’t it?
Panga (2020)
Panga is the story of Jaya Nigam (Kangana Ranaut), Prashant Sachdeva ( Jassi Gill) and their son, Adi. Jaya is a former Kabaddi champion but hangs up her boots after Adi’s birth. She has a settled life but misses her game dearly. On Adi’s insistence she starts working on her physical fitness, gets trained by her friend, makes a comeback and goes on to win the Kabaddi cup for Team India. Prashant is the wing beneath Jaya’s wings and a hands on Dad in her absence. This adorable lead pair gives serious couple goals.
Of course, this is an inclusive list and your suggestions are most welcome. It is often said that behind every successful man there’s a woman. Why then is the role of a man in a woman’s success not conceded just as much? One needn’t be a partner to support or motivate, as is apparent from these movies. Truth is stranger than fiction and at times inspiring too. Gender stereotypes can be subtle but have long-lasting effects on our minds. Let us all make one small but definite change at a time to bring about a big change.
Are you with me? What are you changing today?
Oh, The Intern is one of my favourite movies! I can watch it again and again. I didn’t really like Panga. Others I haven’t watched. A few movies that come to my mind: ‘Queen’, ‘Pursuit of Happyness’, ‘Astitva’, ‘Mardani’, ‘Piku’, ‘Kahani’ and it’s not really a movie that’s about women but I think Katrina Kaif’s character in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara (absolute favourite!) is really cool.
Astitva is one of my favourites. I wish I could write about more movies, sigh! I didn’t like Panga either but the take on marriage and role reversal in it was refreshing. Thanks for reading, Tarang.
I have watched Panga from the list. Astitva, Marathi movie Prawaas, Bonus are a few from my list. They have touched a different topic and shown it in a very matured form.
I’ve watched ‘The Incredibles’ a number of times, courtesy my children 😁
‘The Intern is on my watchlist:)
The movies and books has the power to change the mindset of the person. It is upto us to pick the right one for us. I like the list of the movies listed here. And it is good that children movies often do not have gender stereotypes and kids learn a lot from it.
off the list mentioned above.. I felt kii and kaa was a game changer and I have come across house husbands too.. this movie really changed and broke the steryotype
I never knew that Harry Potter would be a movie that breaks gender stereotypes. You gave a different perspective about the book..thank you
We need movies in every genre to have characters that break gender stereotypes. Movies like Harry Potter and even incredible are needed to make a base for the future generations.
Excellent selection of movies.I have seen all of them and really enjoyed them. And now that I read your point of view, I realise that you are right – these actually did break stereotypes and give all of us something to smile about and talked about and be positive about.
The Interns and the Incredible are my favorite movies from this list. I wish to watch Panga soon due to the message it shares across. Great list
I need to watch The interschool and Harry Potter from this list. I loved the one I already watched and I am sure that these two would be equally good. Thanks for sharing as Now I know what to watch next.
I really liked the list. The movies listed are indeed wonderful and break the barrier of women’s role a d .ens role in the society. Movies have the power to influence the mind of its viewers and these movies have tried to show what the world needs to accept now.
Panga and Ki & Ka are my most favorites after harry potter. These have surely broken stereotypes and i like such movies to watch. Thanks for the list will watch others.
I watched Panga and even Ki&Ka both are great and I loved the concept that it has portrayed!! Thanks for the list, will watch others too now!!
I’ve actually only watched two of these and I find it quite interesting that you picked them! Will check out the others some day too.
Did I watch these movies?? Hell yeah, I loved them all and my most favorites are The Incredibles, Intern, and Potter. I absolutely agree to the strong female characters in each of these amazing movies. What a lovely post, V.
This is an assorted list. I loved watching Astitva, Intern, Hidden Figures and Muramba. I am happy that more movies are being made that either narrate the bold stories of women who smashed the barriers or inspire more.