Heroine-oriented films are few and far between. Films with female protagonists are not seen as viable, commercially. Why even roles written where the heroine has scope to perform and something substantial to convey are rare. Pay parity in the film industry is still mostly impractical and a distant dream because the profits are notional, based more on the male stars so-called ability to draw crowds rather than the strength of the content. It’s not like the office environment where the effort and output are equal. That there’s disparity even there is a different story. A Sridevi or Deepika Padukone will be rare exceptions.
Even when a producer condescended to make a ‘heroine-oriented’ film as it’s referred to, the budget is scaled down to suit the saleability. The least risky of propositions was making a devotional where the heroine played a Goddess who dons various human forms to save a long suffering devotee from the clutches of an evil mother-in-law and abusive husband. Heroines were paid a pittance but loved the power the roles embodied. This genre no longer works, at least has not for some time, but enjoyed a long innings. In social dramas a female protagonist who sacrificed for her kin and suffered silently after marriage was considered strong. If you detested playing the doormat and looked for roles with substance then ‘art cinema’ in the seventies offered them. You had to be satisfied with the awards and accolades because the pay was pitiable. Of course, this was one genre where there was pay parity. Shabana and Smita were paid only as much as Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. Well sometimes the heroines were paid more and enjoyed better hospitality. Then there were also the actresses in Kannada cinema who had earned fame and money but yearned for the elusive National award. The go to director was Girish Kasarvalli.
Very few directors in mainstream cinema scripted strong women characters.
Names like Hrishikesh Mukerjee, Puttanna Kanagal, K. Balachander and Mahendran spring to mind. They also gave mainstream actresses caught in the rut roles that gave them a chance to prove there was more to them than just playing arm candy. Rekha, Sridevi and Arati to name a few realised their untapped abilities under these great directors. Malayalam cinema always had succulent roles for strong performers. Finicky actresses like Parvathy can survive only in Malayalam cinema because it’s not about screen time but the strength of the character and what the character stands for that matters. There was a time when Tamil actresses signed Malayalam films just to hone their skills.
Even the so called ‘soft porn’ era had films with strong content. Mohanlal told me the branding was unfair. “Those movies were much ahead of their times and not just about titillation,” said the great actor, slightly irritated when I mentioned that period as a sort of blot.
Things are changing. With the emergence of multiplexes and various streaming platforms female-oriented films are deemed more viable. Scripts are being written with certain performers in mind. That mostly married actresses who seem to miss arc lights are starring in them is not a mere co-incidence. There are also producers like Shashikant of Y Not Studios who has an eye for fresh directorial talent and an ear for interesting content. His multi-lingual ‘Game Over’ is still sending shivers down audiences spines one month after it’s release. There has been a spate of releases recently and all of them seem to be having a fairly good run. ‘Game Over’ has just two main characters, both female and keeps you on the edge, comforting you with the easy camaraderie between the heroine and her domestic help before playing mind games with you. The tumultuous journey to slay the demons infesting the mind before confronting those outside is not force fed. The writing is relentlessly focussed sans any unnecessary frills. Tapsee is first rate. I must confess I didn’t see much promise in her as a performer when I first watched her in an ill-written role in‘Aadukalam’.
To not mention, Vinodhini’s performance in a character that everyone yearns for in their life in a relationship that defies definition will be an injustice. Jyotika after a hiatus post wedding is having a ball. ’36 Vayadhinile’, a remake gave her the confidence and now you have directors approaching her for roles specially written for her. She was brilliant in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Chekka Chivandha Vaanam’ and the recently released ‘Ratchasi’ about educational reforms, seems to be doing well too. She has a couple of films in the pipeline of course she’s the protagonist. ‘Oh Baby’ starring the recently married Samantha is raking it in. The remake of a Korean film, it has the ingredients of a seventies social drama, a dictatorial mother-in-law, the doting son, the disgruntled daughter-in-law and the ensuing drama. It is with the twist where the old lady gets to relive her youth that turns the improbable dish delectable. Samantha sinks her teeth in and has a ball. The director does sprinkle Indian ingredients to make it more tasty but easily digestible.
Then there’s the Kannada ‘Devaki’ starring Priyanka Upendra. The film seems to be packaged for commercial convenience. Set in Kolkata most of the dialogues are in Bengali and Hindi with Kannada sub-titles. The tale about a mother’s search for her abducted daughter with a Calcutta cop who conveniently speaks Kannada fails to draw you in. What could have been an edge of the street thriller is all over the place with some search scenes seemingly never ending. The film though has got a surprisingly wide release. All the above mentioned films are sans conventional heroes who save the women. The female protagonists in these films fend for themselves and live life on their terms. Films can obviously do without a hero but not a heroine.
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