Bombay Talkies Response

Bombay Talkies Response

The movie Bombay Talkies is an amalgamation of four independent but intertwined short films. Each film has a different director, and as such explores different topics and employs different thematic elements. The first film, Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh, explores the taboo topic of homosexuality and how it affects heterosexual relationships, family dynamics, and internal well-being. Star tells the story of an unemployed father who finally gets his big break in a film, and how his father appears in spirit to encourage him to be persistent. Sheila Ki Jawaani challenges the rigidity of traditional gender roles in the socially conservative India. Finally, Murabba tells the story of a man trying to fulfill his fathers dying wish by meeting Amitabh Bachchan.

Despite being cut in fours, Bombay Talkies is a very cohesive film; all four stories are intertwined in some way, either thematically (i.e. Ajeeb and Sheila) or by particular scenes (i.e. in Ajeeb has a seemingly meaningless scene where someone bumps into Avinash, and this is what the aspiring actor has to do to Ranbir Kapoor in Star). In this paper, I will consider two of the stories specifically: Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh and Sheila Ki Jawaani.  These two stories share a common theme of men defying traditional gender/sexual stereotypes; in my analysis, I will examine how certain scenes in both films subliminally show the objectification of women in Indian society. This idea of female objectification is a very relevant in India at the moment, so I will examine this topic in the context of current Indian events.

From the very onset of the Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh, we see how prevalent and shameless the objectification of women is in India. When Gayatri walks in her job, two men unashamedly ogle her at. This does not elicit a shocked or angered response from Gayatri; instead, she continues to her desk as if this happens every day. Immediately after being so blatantly objectified, Avinash approaches her and starts hitting on her. His crude sexual jokes and clear advances on his boss would almost certainly constitute sexual harassment in America, but Gayatri acts indifferent towards them. Although Avinash is later revealed to be gay, the fact that Gayatri seems so jaded to these advances is very telling of the status of women in Indian society.

We further see Zoya Akhtar subliminally include scenes that show the objectification of women in the short film Sheila Ki Jawaani. When the family goes to the theater to see Tees Maar Khan, the song (also called Sheila Ki Jawaani) starts playing. Katrina Kaif appears on screen, the (presumably) men in the Indian audience go crazy, catcalling her and applauding Katrina the more raunchily she dances. This is, in fact, common in Indian theaters, where men often verbally encourage and cheer when an attractive woman dances or wears scant clothing. This is a stark contrast to America, where such clear objectification would never be tolerated by other moviegoers or society.

Indeed, the idea of women objectification is very relevant in Indian society today. India has long had a culture of rape which has reared its ugly head in the paste few years: the 2012 Delhi gang rape, the 2013 Mumbai gang rape, the slew of marital rape cases, which remain legal in India. Although none of the directors were likely seeking to convey women empowerment as a central theme of their films, the directors of the aforementioned two short films certainly brought to light the pervasiveness of women objectification in India (which I believe in turn leads to a culture of rape) to those who may not have known its extent.