PROFILE | Deepika Padukone’s Recent Roles are a Far Cry from the Characters that Made her a Star
Homi Adajania’s Cocktail (2012) was a rip in Hindi cinema. In the film, the actor Deepika Padukone’s Veronica, a spoilt brat, takes in Meera (Diana Penty) who was abandoned by her husband after he married her under false pretences. Here was a woman who wore her sexual desire and her
Silencing Women Who Wish to Speak Against Abusers Normalised in Movie Industry: Sreelekha Mitra
Sreelekha Mitra says the Indian film industry has witnessed a #MeToo movement. | Photo Credit: Jayanta Shaw Renowned Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra has long been an outspoken critic of the alleged misogyny and patriarchal attitude prevalent in the Indian film industry. The star of such hits such as Hothat Brishti (1998),
‘It Cannot Get Dirtier, It Can Only Get Cleaner’: Bina Paul on Outcome of Hema Committee Report
The Justice Hema Committee report released in August shed light on the widespread and persistent nature of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry. The report’s revelations have sparked a host of reactions, dividing both the industry and the society at large. The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), a group
Ancient Carvings Challenge Simplistic Views of Hindu-Muslim Relations in Medieval Kashmir
Strolling inside the quadrangle of Kashmir’s 600-year-old Jamia Masjid, worshippers stop to take pictures of the mosque’s large steeple, its outlines sharpened against the backdrop of Hari Parbat, the famous fort-hill of Srinagar. What they usually overlook is a limestone plaque with Persian inscriptions embedded in the wall just above
INTERVIEW | ‘It Cannot Get Dirtier, It Can Only Get Cleaner’: Bina Paul on Hema Committee Report Fallout
WATCH: National Award-winning editor and WCC co-founder, Bina Paul, believes that the feudal mindset existing in certain sections of the Malayalam film industry must go. | Video Credit: Interview by R.K. Radhakrishnan; Camera & Editing by Samson Ronald K., Produced by Jinoy Jose P. The Justice Hema Committee report released
How the Women in Cinema Collective Introduced a New Wave of Feminism in Kerala
One of the most remarkable things about Kerala in the 21st century is the recurrence of feminist revolts that are sometimes without a feminist. No, I do not mean state feminism. State feminism in Kerala, at least from the 1990s, has by now had three major effects. First, it
Editor’s Note | Vaishna Roy Writes: Hema Committee Report a Defining Moment in India’s Mass Feminist Awakening
Writing in this issue of Frontline, the feminist scholar J. Devika says: “Malayalam cinema has been historically structured by feudal funding and practices, and women artistes were inevitably taken to be sexually available to the big male names.” This is true not just of Malayalam cinema but of every film industry across
Malayalam Film Industry’s Woes Reflect Kerala’s Own Hierarchical, Feudal, and Patriarchal Structure
In recent weeks, patriarchal norms and male dominance in Malayalam cinema have come under scrutiny following the release of the redacted version of the Justice Hema Committee report. This report, commissioned by the Kerala government, has highlighted the various challenges faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. The committee
Sexual Harassment in Telugu Film Industry: The Reality Behind the Glitz
The Telugu film industry, which spans Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, is as huge as its people’s obsession with cinema. It produces the largest number of movies in India: 317 out of 1,796 in 2023. It accounts for one-fifth of India’s box office revenue of Rs.12,226 crore. And these States house
Kannada and Tamil Cinema Face Their Demons; But Can They Exorcise Them?
Sujata V, 51, is a psychotherapist based in the US. In the early 1990s, she went by the screen name of Soumya, a teenager who acted in one Tamil and three Malayalam films, Poochakkaru Mani Kettum, Advaitham, and Neelakurukkan. In September 2024, 32 years after she left the industry, she