With a string of horrific gang rapes throwing the spotlight on the treatment of women in India, including the deadly Delhi bus attack and the gang rape of a Swiss cyclist in Madhya Pradesh, many are asking if Bollywood, with its formulaic, some would say lazy, blend of gender stereotypes, macho plot lines and casual depictions of women as marriageable sex objects, somehow shares part of the blame.
For Urvashi Butalia, a Delhi-based author who has written extensively on the subject, Bollywood movies starring the likes of Khan, which have delighted billions of Indians for decades, have much to answer for. “In Bollywood, no does not mean no,” she says. “If you keep chasing the woman then eventually you will get your way.”
Pinky Anand, a feminist lawyer, agrees: “Bollywood plays a very important role in Indian society. Anything that Bollywood does will be emulated down the line.”
They point to a long Bollywood tradition of rape scenes and violence against women, which they believe has compounded the difficulties facing women in India, still a highly conservative society which was ranked last year by Trust Law as the worst G20 country in which to be female — below Saudi Arabia. Full story
