Sharmila Tagore feels that today the portrayal of women in mainstream films
New Delhi:
Veteran actress Sharmila Tagorefeels that male actors are still dominating the film industryand scripts are especially written for them.
The 68-year-old National-award winner said actors likeAmitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah are stillruling Bollywood but their female counterparts are lostsomewhere as there are no films for these ageing actresses.
"It is not uncommon to see heroes in their late fortiesromancing women just out of their teens, but the opposite israrely the case. Scripts are specially written for an AmitabhBachchan or even an Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah but thesame is not true for an ageing actress," said Tagore, who wasa part of an event to discuss on 'Representation of Women inIndian Cinema and beyond' at the 19th Justice Sunanda BhandareMemorial Lecture.
The Kashmir Ki Kali star feels that in today's timeportrayal of women in mainstream films is merely cosmetic.
"Films continue to brandish an image of women which islargely decorative and secondary. Of course, there areexpectations as parallel cinema and some regional cinemapresent women in an entirely different, more equal andrealistic light.
"But the mainstream Hindi cinema, which is the dominantfilm industry in the country, changes are merely cosmetic,"she added.
Having started her career as a child actress in SatyajitRay's 1959 Bengali film Apur Sansar, Tagore recalled thatshe was asked by her principal to leave the school as it would bea bad influence to other girls.
"No women from any strata of society was prepared to workin such a lowly profession," she said.
But she feels that her marriage to the legendary cricketerMansoor Ali Khan changed the perception of media and societytowards her.
"My marriage exercised the imagination of the media andthe public to a great extent. They had obviously brought intothe arguments our films prescribed, namely that marriage andcareer were not compatible. Yet, in my case, the combinationof marriage, motherhood and film career did not cause anyfriction," Tagore said.
The actress feels that women are still not on par withtheir male counterparts irrespective of the fact that 'womenempowerment' is one of the main slogans of every politicalparty.
"Today, women's empowerment is a government slogan, it isa feature of every party manifesto. Yet in the second decadeof 21st century, Indian women seemingly protected by law...,"she added.
The 68-year-old National-award winner said actors likeAmitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah are stillruling Bollywood but their female counterparts are lostsomewhere as there are no films for these ageing actresses.
"It is not uncommon to see heroes in their late fortiesromancing women just out of their teens, but the opposite israrely the case. Scripts are specially written for an AmitabhBachchan or even an Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah but thesame is not true for an ageing actress," said Tagore, who wasa part of an event to discuss on 'Representation of Women inIndian Cinema and beyond' at the 19th Justice Sunanda BhandareMemorial Lecture.
The Kashmir Ki Kali star feels that in today's timeportrayal of women in mainstream films is merely cosmetic.
"Films continue to brandish an image of women which islargely decorative and secondary. Of course, there areexpectations as parallel cinema and some regional cinemapresent women in an entirely different, more equal andrealistic light.
"But the mainstream Hindi cinema, which is the dominantfilm industry in the country, changes are merely cosmetic,"she added.
Having started her career as a child actress in SatyajitRay's 1959 Bengali film Apur Sansar, Tagore recalled thatshe was asked by her principal to leave the school as it would bea bad influence to other girls.
"No women from any strata of society was prepared to workin such a lowly profession," she said.
But she feels that her marriage to the legendary cricketerMansoor Ali Khan changed the perception of media and societytowards her.
"My marriage exercised the imagination of the media andthe public to a great extent. They had obviously brought intothe arguments our films prescribed, namely that marriage andcareer were not compatible. Yet, in my case, the combinationof marriage, motherhood and film career did not cause anyfriction," Tagore said.
The actress feels that women are still not on par withtheir male counterparts irrespective of the fact that 'womenempowerment' is one of the main slogans of every politicalparty.
"Today, women's empowerment is a government slogan, it isa feature of every party manifesto. Yet in the second decadeof 21st century, Indian women seemingly protected by law...,"she added.
