By Kumari Swati
Movies have always been a reflection of the society and thus the progression in female characters occured due to progress taking place in society. The memorable female characters that we will never forget and the stories that were written which gave the female actors to perform their best can be concluded by following examples.
The parallel cinema movement which gave us renowned Directors like Satyajit Ray , Mrinal Sen , and many more , during this time we have seen movies like Arth, Ankur, Mirch Masala and many more which had the strong female characters.
The movie ‘Arth’ was about a man, his wife, and the other woman. Shabana Azmi as Pooja and Smita Patel as Kavita have both done justice to their nuanced characters. Although the movie was about a man cheating on her wife, all the attention went towards Shabana Azmi’s multi-layered character . How one can forget the role of ,Nutuan , in Bandini and Meena Kumari in Pakeeza . These times were the times when the film’s were not female oriented but the characters of female protagonist was strong enough to capture the audience attention. The actors like shabana Azmi and Smita Patil worked in some of the best movies of those times and carved a niche for them.
The karishma Kapoor’s character in movie Zubeida is an unforgettable one , the way the vulnerability of a female is shown , similarly an undoubted strength is also weaved in the multilayered character of zubeida. Mehboob khan directorial movie Mother India broke all the records of that time and for the first time one Indian movie chosen on an international plethora. Nargis role in Mother India is one of the best performances in Indian cinema , which fetched this movie the title of All time classic of Indian cinema.
Waheeda Rehman role in the movie guide is still remembered as her best performances.
Movies like Bandit queen, kahaani , Neerja , Nil batey sannata , No one killed Jessica, Queen, Parched, secret superstar, Raazi and the list goes on , all these movies have changed the female protagonist interpretation by the audiences.
Movies like piku, Dangal , Mardani, margarita with a straw , Marykom and many more movies have been made which enthrals the audience with their storytelling and presentation.
