Queen is the recent hot topic of discussion in Bollywood which is reigning in box office collections this year. The picture depicting the transformation of a girl whose marriage was called off her fiancee post which she decides to go for honeymoon alone in a foreign land was well received by the audiences, critics and the members of the film fraternity alike. The film’s collections started picking up at the box office due to word of mouth publicity. Film stalwarts praised ‘the queen’ for her extraordinary performance. The growing trend of making female centric movies comes to the forefront.
Kahaani perhaps made a mark in this area with a lumpsum box office collection of 50 crores two years ago. While Vidya Balan’s acting skills was appreciated as usual, the mystery in the storyline held the audience to their seats. However, the woman centric film set a new trend in modern cinema where a woman is the central focus in the genre of a thriller. True, we might remember movies like ‘Gupt’ but that too required a hero and the woman was the villain. So, this was perhaps the first movie of its kind.
In the past too, there have been female centric movies like Astitva but they have failed to earn good revenues at the box office. It is only recently that female protagonists have started being recognised by the masses. This shows that people are evolving, getting matured in their tastes and looking for movies with substance. Films like Page 3, Fashion, Corporate, Chandni Bar are women centric films which have been widely appreciated. Of course, there have been movies like Heroine, Gulaab Gang which have failed to garner popularity. However, with the positive responses exceeding the negative ones, female centric movies are no doubt treated with importance.
Nowadays, the content in the female centric movies are different than they were a decade ago. This shows the changes in the mindset and lifestyle of people in society which is reflected in movies. One cannot forget the example of the west where Julia Roberts was the highest paid actor in the 90’s. However, irrespective of the quality of performance, Indian actresses get lesser remuneration as compared to their male counterparts. This has to change. If actresses can be the sole reason of earning revenue for films, she must be paid more. The problem is, we still live in a male-centric society where the role of a female in films is restricted to item numbers and romancing. Otherwise, how else would you explain the success of Dabangg?
