The box office’s wonder women: Telling it like it is

Actors from Taapsee Pannu to Vidya Balan and industry experts weigh in on whether the female lead is finally getting her due, and the space to tell new, untold stories

After a standing ovation premiere at the Berlinale in February, and grossing nearly ₹197 crore at the box office, the Alia Bhatt-starrer  Gangubai Kathiawadi made a big splash on streaming giant Netflix a few days ago. Among the very few films to have stuck to the eight-week window between theatre release and OTT debut,  Gangubai’s continued stellar run is a testament to both good storytelling and Alia’s star power.

That women-led films or shows don’t sell is a myth long busted. Already this year, we have seen multiple projects, big and small, with strong women characters essayed by some very talented actors — from the Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah-starrer  Jalsa to  Gangubai to  The Fame Game web series  headlined by Madhuri Dixit, or to cite a non-Bollywood example, the Malayalam thriller  Oruthee, led by Navya Nair. 

As recently as a decade or so ago, this would have been unthinkable. Says actor Taapsee Pannu, “When I started working, there would be one or two female-led films in Bollywood per year, and it would feel like the light at the end of the tunnel. Now we probably have one or two every month. Every leading female actor right now has multiple women-led projects.”

It could be argued, therefore, that the idea of the ‘bankable’ female lead (and as the word indicates, the nomenclature is largely commercial) has never been stronger in Indian cinema. What are the factors behind this shift? Has OTT or the streaming industry played a huge role in this? What more can one expect in the years ahead? These are some of the questions we asked the stakeholders themselves — actors, directors, producers, writers and critics — to gain their different perspectives and experiences over the past decade. 

“I think there definitely has been progress over the last decade or so,” says Sohini Chattopadhyay, who won the National Award for Best Film Critic last year. “In 2012, we saw  Kahaani and at least for Hindi cinema, its commercial success heralded a period of so-called women-centred projects. By then we had seen  Tanu Weds Manu in 2011 and Kangana Ranaut had another major commercial success a couple of years later, with  Queen. So, the first half of the 2010s was a period where we were seeing a lot of women-led films doing well in mainstream Hindi cinema.” 

Taapsee’s filmography over the last five to six years is a particularly relevant example in this context:  Pink,  Mulk,  Thappad and more recently,  Rashmi Rocket and  Loop Lapeta are all solid, well-made mainstream films that have made an impression on critics as well as the general public. Many of these projects would have found it impossible to find financial backing before the mid-2000s.

There is also a marked difference in the kind of roles being offered to women actors today. The industry has slowly but surely begun reflecting changing attitudes in society, says actor Vidya Balan. “Back in the 90s, women in films were either glorified or vilified. From the mid-2000s onwards, women onscreen were seen as individuals with hopes, dreams and aspirations of their own. It’s a reflection of the progress that society as a whole has made on that front. And the things women still have to fight for… you see that struggle onscreen as well.”