Female-centric Short Movies
The film industry plays a role in the mindset of youngsters who keenly follow movies of their favourite stars, and the ideas portrayed by particular movies stick with them for a long time. Mainstream movies usually seem to have this kind of effect on youngsters watching them because of the popular cast.
From the last couple of years, short films and documentaries have been drawing attention towards themselves with very good content, and also the fact that they take up very less of the viewer’s time. Gone are the days when women were just shown as supportive wives, mothers or just love interests of the protagonist. Women-centric short films are now on the steady rise. A few of the very good Indian short movies that I have come across and are women-centric include Devi, Khane mein kya hai, The Day after everyday, Juice, Nitishastra, Everything is fine and Name plate. They talk about various issues women usually face that need to be addressed.
DEVI
Devi is a film about victims of various kinds of abuse, and the way the film is made is beautiful. We see women of all ages, different castes and different professions staying in a room, which we later realize is being depicted as after-life, and when someone rings the doorbell, all of them take sides to if she should be let in or not, and the discussion that follows is deep and daunting. They address the fact that abuse, may it be of any kind or magnitude, is a horrific incident to take place in itself.
It is a very deep and meaningful film and is a must watch.
KHANEY MEIN KYA HAI
Khaney mein kya hai, on the other hand is more on the lighter side, but still talks about issues of how women talking about sex is usually frowned upon. This film revolves around a mother, daughter and their maid. They talk about how a woman’s need is as important as a man’s and the fact that women can have and express their sexual needs.
It is refreshing to watch a film which is a light-hearted comedy, yet addresses the issues it aims at.
THE DAY AFTER EVERYDAY
The day after every day is a movie that involves three women who work far from their homes, and return home late, and their family members are very upset by this fact. It talks about eve-teasing and abuse. The women seem to be taking a course for self-defense and the day after an incident which haunts them takes place, decide they are ready to face the abusers and what happens next is to be watched.
This talks about a very serious issue that still happens at a lot of places, equally in cities and villages and how women need to stand up to the abusers. It also shows us the change in one of the family member’s attitude once the women stood up to their abusers.
JUICE
Juice is a movie where the protagonist is hosting dinner for her husband’s friends, and all of their wives and herself are in the kitchen cooking, while the men sit out, relaxed and talking. In the kitchen, the women are all talking about how one of them should embrace motherhood (even though she doesn’t seem to want to). They also show that one of them discriminates the maid and the protagonist is not okay with it. The protagonist’s husband keeps asking her to serve dinner, sitting in the living room, without bothering to come and help or for that matter even see. We also see that a guest’s daughter is supposed to take care of her brother and feed him, even though she is very young herself. What happens next is the rest of the film.
This film is carved out of a day in a house that runs on patriarchy and the stereotypes associated with it.
NITISHASTRA
Nitishastra is a movie where the lead actress is a self-defense trainer and we later find out what her brother has done, and how she deals with it. It is a film with a powerful message, that the abuser, whoever it is, even if a family member, has to be punished.
A lot of sexual abuses take place where the victim knows the abuser and is sometimes a family member or a friend. Some of the victims are forced to not charge cases since they are family members, but this movie emphasizes on how much she loved her brother, but still did the right thing when it came to sexual abuse.
EVERYTHING IS FINE
Everything is fine is a movie about a woman in 50s and how she has been leading her life with her husband who doesn’t treat her as his equal and the particular day she decides to break free. It talks about how her daughter supports her decision and takes her side.
This also talks about how the father is supportive of his daughter being independent and living alone, but when it comes to his wife, he is not open minded about stuff and is always making plans by himself and deciding what to do without taking his wife’s plans into consideration when they visit their daughter.
NAMEPLATE
Name plate talks about a couple where the wife earns more than the husband, and is older than him. The husband is fine about it, and so is his mother. The movie focuses on how his father comes to finally accept them. This film also doesn’t involve the cliched hatred between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. We see that the mother-in-law is actually pretty supportive of her daughter-in-law.
A few other short films worth a mention are Badlaav, Methi ke Laddoo, Beans aloo and Risky business. A documentary called Gudiya is also a must watch. It shows the victims of sex trafficking and shows the horrific incidents that happen across the country that will send a chill across your spine.
Many films like this have come up in the last couple of years. A lot of issues that women face are being addressed, and have been (hopefully) impacting people in the right way. Films like these do a lot to change the society’s mentality. The change will be gradual, but it is great to know that films like these are being made and are highly appreciated by the audience. It is also true that only films like these aren’t enough to change the patriarchy around us, but little and gradual steps like this that will help us change the mentality of how a woman is supposed to be, will take us a long way.
