March of 8

On International Women's Day, we salute eight of the strongest women characters of Bollywood. They belonged to different social strata and professions and were confronted by different types of challenges. But each was exceptional in her own way.

March of 8. Illustrated by Riya Kumari: Visual Storyteller at ThisDay

1. Radha in Mother India (1957): A cheating and exploitative moneylender, a disabled husband who deserts the family, a natural calamity that snatches one of her infant sons away, extreme penury, having to undertake torturous physical labor under the hot sun—drawing upon the strength of her ideals, Radha endures it all. But years later, the turning of one of her sons, Birju, into an outlaw was unacceptable to her for two reasons. First, Birju was a bad blot on her otherwise unblemished life. Second, Birju was an enemy to the entire society, a virus that could multiply. Dipping into the bottomless reservoir of her strength yet again, in the interest of the larger good, Radha shoots her own son to death.

2. Laxmi Joshi in Pratighaat (1987): When the outspoken college lecturer Laxmi Joshi files an eyewitness’ report against the local thug Kali for murdering a policeman, Kali vengefully strips her naked in public as her timid husband watches helplessly. Displaying exceptional fortitude, she fights back, wins the support of her students and of other victims of Kali’s criminalities, agrees to fight the local elections against the thug and promises clean administration, thus rising above her personal agenda of revenge. But when a panicked Kali resorts to booth capturing and rigging and wins the election unfairly, rock-like Laxmi decides to stand by the commitment she had made to her electorate. So what if the parliamentary methods to keep a criminal out of power failed to work? Laxmi has a Plan B.

3. Puja in Arth (1982): Having grown up in an orphanage, a cozy home and a stable marriage are all that Puja wanted. But when Puja discovers that her ad filmmaker husband Inder was having an extramarital affair with actor Kavita, her moorings come loose as she had no identity save for being Mrs. Puja Malhotra. Like a rudderless boat caught in a storm mid-sea, she calls up Kavita and pleads with her to let go of Inder. From this extreme insecurity what comes next? The best, of course, as Puja struggles and stumbles but surely discovers her financial and emotional independence. She becomes Puja—just Puja, the individual. She adopts her maid’s child and politely declines proposals from two men—one of them from Inder himself.

4. Meghna Mathur in Fashion (2008): For a long time, conservative families have carried a firm social stigma against modeling as a career for women. And therefore, we hardly find any female protagonist in Hindi films whose profession is being a fashion model. That is why aspiring model Meghna Mathur’s character in Fashion is a landmark one in Bollywood. It was entirely about her obstacle-riddled journey—rejection by agencies, jeers from her successful colleagues, and being asked to vacate her relatives’ home in Mumbai for posing in a lingerie ad. Yes, she sleeps with the creative head of a fashion house in return for a lucrative modeling contract with his company. But Meghna is single, ambitious, and has a right to seek out a strategic stepping stone in her career. True, she lapses into alcoholism, suffers from depression, and almost gives up. But she comes back fighting, eventually scaling the Everest of her profession and becoming a role model.

5. Meera Gaity in No One Killed Jessica (2011): Meera Gaity is a spunky young journalist who covers a war right at the war front. And this spunk propels her into wanting to reopen the case of Jessica Lal’s murder, allegedly committed by a politician’s son Manish. Be it convincing her reluctant editor to grant her permission to pursue the case, convincing the late Jessica’s sister that the fight needs to go on, or carrying out sting operations and convincing witnesses to speak up, compassionate aggression is what characterizes Meera. She uses the exponential reach of the electronic media to whip up public support for Jessica. Meera represents the new-age commando who brings criminals to their knees without putting a finger on them.

6. Sehmat Khan Syed in Raazi (2018): Planted right inside the home of the Pakistani brigadier Syed as his daughter-in-law, 20-year old Intelligence Bureau agent Sehmat is tasked with spying on critical war documents that could alter the outcome of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. This conflicted life of close shaves, cryptic communications, and having to kill two members of her in-laws’ home to protect her identity wrecks Sehmat emotionally. Ultimately, she loses her loving husband in the crossfire while her own bureau chief tries to eliminate her as she was no longer useful to him. Lone warrior Sehmat was one of the unsung heroes of the war. As she avers, “Nothing is more important to me than India”.

7. Malti, Archana, and Shiraz in Chhapaak (2020): This is a story of three women rockstars. Despite her obvious trauma and her precarious financial situation, acid attack victim Malti trusts the legal system. Her lawyer Archana’s strengths are her deep knowledge of legalese, her meticulousness in building solid evidence, and her presence of mind and articulateness in arguments. She doesn’t need to lean on courtroom drama and theatrics. And then there is the good samaritan Shiraz who supports and motivates Malti. Together they win the battle of getting a 10-year imprisonment sentence slapped on Malti’s culprit, but the bigger war on ban of acid sale is yet to be won. But they will win it some day, one reckons.

8. Maanvi Brar in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021): Manu was born with a male body but, in her mind and soul, she always was a girl. And at the age of 20, she decides to undergo gender-affirmative surgery, thus completing her transformation from Manu to Maanvi. While the physical pain from the surgeries was a momentary one, the pain from tailing catcalls of ‘chhakka’ and ‘hijra’, being rejected by her own mother, and losing her job as a Zumba instructor was more permanent and recurring. Maanvi could have taken the easy route of being a woman deep within herself, unknown to all. But the woman within chose to appear the way she truly believed she was, correcting God’s aberration. It may take time, but the Maanvis of this world will thrive.