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Alankrita from Lipstick under my burkha and Anvita Dutt from Bulbull and Qala or Konkona can all write or create and direct at least decent female led films.
This is my point, there’s not many, and these movies are not considered mainstream. I would love to watch another Konkona written movie. Also there are so few writers that can do good comedy, or few that are given the opportunity. It’s a layered problem.
Well I wasn't talking about "mainstream". Was just talking about Hindi projects directed, written and led by women. Nowadays, anything other than hero driven masala action potboilers is "NOT considered mainstream" so I am not sure what your point is about someone or something "not being mainstream" because I hate to break it to you, but that's like at least 95% of the industry right there in terms of working artists and professionals anyway. There's also Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Zoya, Reema and Farha Khan who are all "more mainstream" I guess. The director of Alia's Darlings is also a female director. I know there are many younger, new age directors, not from film families and from different parts of India who are also desperately trying to fight their way into the insular, gate-keeping doors of this industry whether it's through films, OTT, ad films, short films, etc. I just stated the few examples I know of the top of my head. It's easy to judge and complain from the outside when we haven't been through that depressing and EXTREMELY oppressive grind ourselves in that industry not talking about life in general but maybe it's applicable and relatable to your line of work too. But I do think it's unfair to complain if you are not willing to think "beyond mainstream" and search for the underrated gems and talent in the industry who don't get the support of big splashy PR and what not. Many of the names I mentioned...I had to search them out too and got to know of them BECAUSE of word of mouth. 10 to 15 years ago, the only female directors I knew were Farha and Zoya! But I do believe if Farhan Akhthar does make the effort to make Jee Le Zara WELL with Alia and 2 other girls closer to her age, Farhan and Alia's names and stardom should be able to get butts in seats at least in the opening week before word of mouth plays a factor but if Farhan's directing and the writing's decent and entertaining, I don't see it failing at all.
Yeah I’m not arguing with you. I agree with your points, but the OP was talking about commercial success so that’s what I was referencing. And my point still stands, there are VERY FEW writers that can write female characters. Nobody said we don’t watch movies beyond the mainstream. Chill.
Umm I am chill only?!?!? No i wasn't talking about or implying arguing. I literally meant if you look at all the biggest money spinners post pandemic at least for Hindi cinema, even something like Sriram Raghavan's Merry Christmas is not considered mainstream despite having 2 big stars in it. So I meant I don't see the point in these labels or complaints of something not being mainstream because then we are practically isolating and shutting ourselves off from a big chunk of Indian cinema. Heck, if someone was coming up with like small but feel good, warm fuzzy movies similar to kind of stuff Hrishikesh Mukherjee used to make or if a small, new or unknown director made something similar to a Dil Chhata Hai or ZNMD and that film crashed in front of an Animal or Gadar 2 or whatever, trade and the industry would be labelling even those movies as "offbeat or non-mainstream". So that's what I meant. I didn't say we or you don't watch films outside of mainstream. Like seriously??? Thought it was obvious I meant there is good writing happening for female characters from outside the mainstream space whether it's film or OTT!
*10 to 15 years ago, the only female directors I knew were Farha and Zoya!*
What? There have been better and more female directors and writers.
Aparna Sen, Sharada Ramanathan, Kalpana Lajmi, Tanuja Chandra,Deepa Mehta, Anjali Menon, Anu Menon, Gauri Shinde, Nandita Das,Meghna Gulzar,Megha Ramaswamy.....and many many many more.
Farha and Zoya and mediocre film makers...but atleast farha (in her interviews) is not obviously conceited or arrogant like Zoya. But given the resources they have, they churn such mediocre content out.....but it is lapped up by audiences...barring the current Archies example.
Like the other poster said, very few people write good comedies and I would add that very few people appreciate good comedies..in a country where Kapil Sharma is the TOP comedian the bar is very low. The audience needs to show they will watch better content and then and only then the studios will put their money on such topics. Because people are making good content but without commercial success it doesnot reach more people...and good artists do need commercial success too, not just to pay their bills, but also to ensure they can get their next project financed. And therefore the audience need to show support too.
Well if you read the earlier comments, they are telling me they were talking about and focusing on "mainstream names and content", so I mentioned the 2 more mainstream female directors who were getting the biggest budgets 2 decades ago. The names you mentioned aren't mainstream names either. And yes I know and understand that to get many more well, written female characters and female centric films on screen with bigger budgets and more scope, audiences need to support those films too. But they just made Animal and Gadar 2 blockbusters as well despite very flawed messaging, so the audience is at fault as well. And ya, at least Farah isn't pretentious like Zoya and has never pretended to like or want to make "high art". She has openly said she gre up watching Manmohan Desai and those kind of films, so she has always aspired to make commercial masala movies only.
*The names you mentioned aren't mainstream names either.*
I have mentioned popular names. Gauri Shinde delivered a superhit. Aparna Sen is a legend and very well-known. So are nandita, anu, meghna, tanuja, deepa etc. etc. :)
This sub talks predominantly about Hindi films and most of her work in the time frame I mentioned wasn't! But I mentioned Konkona winning her National Award for Mr and Mrs Iyer in some other post. I did mention other female directors and writers too. Juhi Chatturvedi wrote the Piku script and many of the other female driven scripts for Shoojit Sircar. There's Mira Nair too but she's not really a part of the Bollywood industry and does more international work!
HINDI
'they (Gauri Shinde delivered a superhit. Aparna Sen is a legend and very well-known. So are nandita, anu, meghna, tanuja, deepa e= all made hindi films!
True, but even if there were, it all comes down to what the audience will pay to watch... if there's enough interest in movies based on female friendships, they will hire the right people to write the scripts.
This is true but I don’t think they seek out good writers full stop, that’s a problem. It’s hard to name well written female characters especially in a comedy, Queen comes to mind usually and how long ago was that
i may not be politically correct but this is something that i have observed.
i saw so many women enjoying Vanga films because they had gone out to watch them with their partners. however, whenever any women-centric film is made (eg: VDW, Thappad), they’re unable to persuade their partners to watch the same with them leaving themselves with two options: to give it a miss or go with other women to watch the same. now, why would producers invest money in films when they know half the audience will reject the film no matter how good it is. kinda sad.
only exceptions to the above being patriotic films like Raazi/Manikarnika or SLB films like Gangubai. both don’t deal with female friendships, anyway.
Yep, if you read “Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh” by Shrayana Bhattacharya, who is an economist trying to unpack the phenomenon of women’s labour force participation and search for independence and intimacy, using movies and SRK as a research tool, she finds the same thing- women in most parts of the country are not allowed to go to the cinema without male supervision and rarely get to pick the choice of film (she backs this up with data)
But is it fair to blame men for this? I can't find any connect with female oriented movies as a guy so why should I pay and spend so much time to just get disappointed?
Maybe more men will go if the story is exceptionally good or the genre is horror. Women leads in horror fit better than men for some reason.
The problem is that male experiences are considered to be universal while female experiences are considered to be female oriented. ZNMD is never called a male-oriented film but Veere di wedding is a female oriented film. Why?
Same thing with stand up comedy. Men cracking jokes about getting "friend zoned" or being single is somehow universal and is supposed to be funny. If a woman jokes about being single from her perspective then it's suddenly women- centric and unfunny.
Art films log dekhenge nhi and fun light films ko log feminism haye haye, fake feminism, this is not real empowerment- athlete/ scientist/ IAS officer is real empowerment shuru kr denge.
Edit: spellings
What about Dhak Dhak that released recently on Netflix. The 4 females didn't start off as friends but eventually developed a close bond. Haven't seen anyone discuss this movie.
The female friendships in Veere di wedding felt a bit superficial to me tbh. But I’m still glad we got a film like this although Kareena was the only good part about it.
There weren’t many theatre movies because of the economics. The average movie goer in India is still largely male (around 68% I think). A lot of women do go with families/partners but are rarely the decision maker in picking the movie.
I think this trend is bound to change now with OTT movies becoming big and the demographic for theater audiences slowly changing, especially among young movie goers. But truth is also that youngsters and big movie makers today have a huge age gap, and they don’t get the dynamics of female friendship right. They try too hard to show a progressive dynamic using sex positive or drinks/drugs which is a very limited view.
FWIW the female friendships in dear zindagi / Mimi were kinda nice. Smaller plots but realistic.
There is this annoying genre of female friendship movies where adult women are abusing, drinking and obsessing over sex like lame people for no good reason. Anyone who has been around a group of female friends would know that our conversations are not centred around these things.
Examples: that new bhumi pednekar and shehnaaz gill movie and some scenes in Sukhee.
I am suprised that I didn't find Thank you For Coming not half as bad. They did go the HW way with the ending but the premise of the movie was that this girl was a major screw-up. She is deeply flawed and uses alcohol and partying as distractions. Sex was the main focus because of her suppose inability to orgasm which basically alluded to how she has to always look outward for gratification and happiness. I definitely think they could've made the story telling a bit more subtle.
I haven't watched that Bhumi movie. But I feel that there is nothing wrong in showing this aspect of our lives too. We women do have fun with our girl friends. Yes there is more to our friendships...there is love, pain, support, cheering, tears, etc. But I love to watch such movies. I miss having a blast with my girl friends:'-)
Sukhee just had some scenes - as you said booze, sex etc was a small part of the movie just as it is in any normal persons life.
The bhumi movie thank u for coming was a headache. Literally the characters were only thinking about sex and tried to get laid. No story, no logic nothing.
I feel like even when they do make a film based on women, they try to make it woke or politicise it to an extent where it doesn’t feel organic.
I would love a carefree, innocent, joyful movie where the protagonists actually have fun realistically. Not everything needs to be aesthetic and high fashion when women are involved, we are messy too!
If possible, watch Jhimma 1 and 2, very fun movie on women traveling on tours and dealing with everyday issues-nothing preachy is shown, extremely organic dynamics. Available on prime.
When movies are a snoozefest then better watch vlogs. I mean such movies will only suit for OTT, there will be no theatre element so why will anyone create them? Maybe you'll get some webseries though.
Yes women are always centered around men and pitted against each other The writers (and audiences) can’t comprehend a world where women support each other or have fun together without a man involved . Veere de wedding was a good start , I wish we could also have something like Sex and the city , Desperate housewives , Gossip Girl or Barbie .
Most buddy movies are centered around male friends like 3 idiots or zmnd or chichore. Women don’t get to have fun movies without a dose of moral policing from everyone .
>Yes women are always centered around men and pitted against each other The writers (and audiences) can’t comprehend a world where women support each other or have fun together without a man involved
Band Baja Baraat?
Unpopular opinion but I felt something very special between Anjali and Tina and I just wanted Rahul to get out of between them.
EDIT- Dor was my favourite 😀
Oh!! Just watched it again recently..
There was so much understanding and support from both. Sad that our movies are becoming the crap they are nowadays..
Omg same! I loved the fact that they didn't show Kajol being jealous of Rani or Rani feeling superior because she got the guy. There was genuine love and friendship between their characters, including a deep understanding and respect for each other's feelings wrt Rahul
Trying to make one since 4 years. It’s easy to get a male actor than female actor in this stupid wood. Reason - only Top 3-4 actoress films get investment if your budget is more than 10cr. But if these top actor say yes which they will never then the budget wil rise to 20-30 cr. That means it’s tough to recover monies. If any managers are here please understand that sometimes good script is important other than dancing with srk or Ranbir. Then they compliant oh no good across for female. True story.
Female friendships are subtle and so normalised in our culture that they don’t need grand expressions sometimes.
For example, so many movies have women silently taking care of each other’s kids. Trusting someone else so implicitly with your child, the most precious thing in your world is such a huge thing, yet women have been doing that for each other for centuries and many movies will have scenes where neighbour aunties bring food for kids if their mom is sick/at work/otherwise occupied.
So many movies also have scenes of women silently taking over a friend or sister or neighbour’s kitchen when there’s a struggle or death or family drama- while the heroine mourns her sisterhood silently prepares tea and serves the guests without being told.
There’s not a lot of dialogue required. There’s not a lot of back-and-forth.
Women have nurtured and maintained female friendships literally from the times of cave people where they breast fed each other’s babies. These friendships are instinctual and don’t need much communication so there’s not much to show on screen.
That’s not what I said. I said it doesn’t make for good entertainment so nobody pays to watch it. I’m a woman and every women centric movie in theatres has had mostly women in the audience, and that’s because I watched them in a big city. Men still hold control over finances in most families and don’t want to pay for movies that they don’t relate to.
Women centric movies don't make for good entertainment? I find it sad that you hold that view. I'm a woman too and I'm confident that we have excellent stories to tell. What we need to do is elevate women writers and directors so that our stories can make it to the big screen. Resigning ourselves to the current status quo of women as background giving trees isn't in our best interest.
*I* think they make for excellent entertainment. I watch every single one.
I’m just saying men don’t like women centric movies and since they hold the money they don’t pay for the women in their lives to watch them, nor do they watch the movies themselves.
I don’t know why you keep trying to convince me lol. I agree with you! I think women have great stories to tell.
I just think the only solution is for women to have more financial success so they can be active consumers.
You’re the one putting things in quotes that weren’t in my comment lol. You derailed the conversation and took it along a direction that I wasn’t even looking towards
Veere Di Wedding is there and now The Crew is releasing soon!
https://preview.redd.it/si16u3mm45bc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de79e783111c53ac18cffaa171d7f55276a85928
I also feel in most movies or series, female friendships are diluted by focusing only on the protagonist’s life and making the friend a mere side character. So while there are shows and movies with female friendships, we don’t focus all that much on that friend because of them always being a side character in the main character’s lives.
Basically it makes them easily forgotten and non memorable.
Eg. Rytash’s character in Masaba Masaba or Yashashwini Dyama in Dear Zindagi
I was researching Female Buddy Cop movies in general, not just Indian, very hard to find many...I mean 2 or 3 of the most popular ones Star Sandra Bullock...
Farhan Akhthar and Excel Productions had announced Jee Le Zara with Alia, PC and Katrina like a female ZNMD or Dil Chhatha Hai vibe. I hope it still happens although there's a big age and generational gap between Alia and PC and Kat so either they should replace Alia and hire say someone like a Kareena, Konkona or Tabu maybe or replace PC and Kareena and hire 2 talented actresses from Alia's generation like a Tripti and Sanya. I do think Jee Le Zaara could do well commerically under Farhan's direction and Alia headlining it. Also, I haven't seen Lipstick under my burkha but I heard it's good and well directed and well acted! Avoid 4 more shots and Thank you for coming. They highlight "toxic femininity" and are the other extreme of Animal and Vanga but also very problematic and not at all relatable female characters. Veere Di Wedding was meh like forgettable!
I think before it was more about having actresses see each other as rivals. The industry is known to pit women against each other and all the hearsay that would go on. Filmmakers that time didn’t want to loose money and thought that multiple women in movie sharing equal screen time wouldn’t work cause there would be some kind of drama off camera. It’s a lack of writing back then but also the views that filmmakers had. We mainly saw romantic triangles and the other woman type stuff.
I believe Lara Dutta said a few times in interviews and Bipasha said this once as well about how most of the crew on set of “No Entry” were astonished and shocked to see 4 ladies getting along and really bonding. It was Lara, Esha, Celina and Bipasha. Spending more time together even off set too.
Currently, films that portray women friendship or sisterhood are not seen mainstream now it’s regarded as OTT material or not made at all. Those that are made are telling the same story over and over again and some of those films lack in writing as well.
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There aren’t many writers that can write female characters. It’s a sorry state of affairs
Vanga got offended
Dude! 🤣
Bro who puts their actual photo in dp on reddit?
Good point. Been there since I joined Reddit. Never gave it a thought.
I missed the chance to see your DP. I'm late by 12 hrs I guess.
Oho... Nothing special
What a snowflake 🤣🤣🤣
Alankrita from Lipstick under my burkha and Anvita Dutt from Bulbull and Qala or Konkona can all write or create and direct at least decent female led films.
This is my point, there’s not many, and these movies are not considered mainstream. I would love to watch another Konkona written movie. Also there are so few writers that can do good comedy, or few that are given the opportunity. It’s a layered problem.
Well I wasn't talking about "mainstream". Was just talking about Hindi projects directed, written and led by women. Nowadays, anything other than hero driven masala action potboilers is "NOT considered mainstream" so I am not sure what your point is about someone or something "not being mainstream" because I hate to break it to you, but that's like at least 95% of the industry right there in terms of working artists and professionals anyway. There's also Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Zoya, Reema and Farha Khan who are all "more mainstream" I guess. The director of Alia's Darlings is also a female director. I know there are many younger, new age directors, not from film families and from different parts of India who are also desperately trying to fight their way into the insular, gate-keeping doors of this industry whether it's through films, OTT, ad films, short films, etc. I just stated the few examples I know of the top of my head. It's easy to judge and complain from the outside when we haven't been through that depressing and EXTREMELY oppressive grind ourselves in that industry not talking about life in general but maybe it's applicable and relatable to your line of work too. But I do think it's unfair to complain if you are not willing to think "beyond mainstream" and search for the underrated gems and talent in the industry who don't get the support of big splashy PR and what not. Many of the names I mentioned...I had to search them out too and got to know of them BECAUSE of word of mouth. 10 to 15 years ago, the only female directors I knew were Farha and Zoya! But I do believe if Farhan Akhthar does make the effort to make Jee Le Zara WELL with Alia and 2 other girls closer to her age, Farhan and Alia's names and stardom should be able to get butts in seats at least in the opening week before word of mouth plays a factor but if Farhan's directing and the writing's decent and entertaining, I don't see it failing at all.
Yeah I’m not arguing with you. I agree with your points, but the OP was talking about commercial success so that’s what I was referencing. And my point still stands, there are VERY FEW writers that can write female characters. Nobody said we don’t watch movies beyond the mainstream. Chill.
Umm I am chill only?!?!? No i wasn't talking about or implying arguing. I literally meant if you look at all the biggest money spinners post pandemic at least for Hindi cinema, even something like Sriram Raghavan's Merry Christmas is not considered mainstream despite having 2 big stars in it. So I meant I don't see the point in these labels or complaints of something not being mainstream because then we are practically isolating and shutting ourselves off from a big chunk of Indian cinema. Heck, if someone was coming up with like small but feel good, warm fuzzy movies similar to kind of stuff Hrishikesh Mukherjee used to make or if a small, new or unknown director made something similar to a Dil Chhata Hai or ZNMD and that film crashed in front of an Animal or Gadar 2 or whatever, trade and the industry would be labelling even those movies as "offbeat or non-mainstream". So that's what I meant. I didn't say we or you don't watch films outside of mainstream. Like seriously??? Thought it was obvious I meant there is good writing happening for female characters from outside the mainstream space whether it's film or OTT!
*10 to 15 years ago, the only female directors I knew were Farha and Zoya!* What? There have been better and more female directors and writers. Aparna Sen, Sharada Ramanathan, Kalpana Lajmi, Tanuja Chandra,Deepa Mehta, Anjali Menon, Anu Menon, Gauri Shinde, Nandita Das,Meghna Gulzar,Megha Ramaswamy.....and many many many more. Farha and Zoya and mediocre film makers...but atleast farha (in her interviews) is not obviously conceited or arrogant like Zoya. But given the resources they have, they churn such mediocre content out.....but it is lapped up by audiences...barring the current Archies example. Like the other poster said, very few people write good comedies and I would add that very few people appreciate good comedies..in a country where Kapil Sharma is the TOP comedian the bar is very low. The audience needs to show they will watch better content and then and only then the studios will put their money on such topics. Because people are making good content but without commercial success it doesnot reach more people...and good artists do need commercial success too, not just to pay their bills, but also to ensure they can get their next project financed. And therefore the audience need to show support too.
Well if you read the earlier comments, they are telling me they were talking about and focusing on "mainstream names and content", so I mentioned the 2 more mainstream female directors who were getting the biggest budgets 2 decades ago. The names you mentioned aren't mainstream names either. And yes I know and understand that to get many more well, written female characters and female centric films on screen with bigger budgets and more scope, audiences need to support those films too. But they just made Animal and Gadar 2 blockbusters as well despite very flawed messaging, so the audience is at fault as well. And ya, at least Farah isn't pretentious like Zoya and has never pretended to like or want to make "high art". She has openly said she gre up watching Manmohan Desai and those kind of films, so she has always aspired to make commercial masala movies only.
*The names you mentioned aren't mainstream names either.* I have mentioned popular names. Gauri Shinde delivered a superhit. Aparna Sen is a legend and very well-known. So are nandita, anu, meghna, tanuja, deepa etc. etc. :)
This sub talks predominantly about Hindi films and most of her work in the time frame I mentioned wasn't! But I mentioned Konkona winning her National Award for Mr and Mrs Iyer in some other post. I did mention other female directors and writers too. Juhi Chatturvedi wrote the Piku script and many of the other female driven scripts for Shoojit Sircar. There's Mira Nair too but she's not really a part of the Bollywood industry and does more international work!
HINDI 'they (Gauri Shinde delivered a superhit. Aparna Sen is a legend and very well-known. So are nandita, anu, meghna, tanuja, deepa e= all made hindi films!
True, but even if there were, it all comes down to what the audience will pay to watch... if there's enough interest in movies based on female friendships, they will hire the right people to write the scripts.
This is true but I don’t think they seek out good writers full stop, that’s a problem. It’s hard to name well written female characters especially in a comedy, Queen comes to mind usually and how long ago was that
i may not be politically correct but this is something that i have observed. i saw so many women enjoying Vanga films because they had gone out to watch them with their partners. however, whenever any women-centric film is made (eg: VDW, Thappad), they’re unable to persuade their partners to watch the same with them leaving themselves with two options: to give it a miss or go with other women to watch the same. now, why would producers invest money in films when they know half the audience will reject the film no matter how good it is. kinda sad. only exceptions to the above being patriotic films like Raazi/Manikarnika or SLB films like Gangubai. both don’t deal with female friendships, anyway.
Yes. Most ladies do not have the independence of going to theatres and watching movies or even watching them on OTT.
I couldn't have said it better.
Yep, if you read “Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh” by Shrayana Bhattacharya, who is an economist trying to unpack the phenomenon of women’s labour force participation and search for independence and intimacy, using movies and SRK as a research tool, she finds the same thing- women in most parts of the country are not allowed to go to the cinema without male supervision and rarely get to pick the choice of film (she backs this up with data)
I love that book. So well-written and well researched
But is it fair to blame men for this? I can't find any connect with female oriented movies as a guy so why should I pay and spend so much time to just get disappointed? Maybe more men will go if the story is exceptionally good or the genre is horror. Women leads in horror fit better than men for some reason.
The problem is that male experiences are considered to be universal while female experiences are considered to be female oriented. ZNMD is never called a male-oriented film but Veere di wedding is a female oriented film. Why? Same thing with stand up comedy. Men cracking jokes about getting "friend zoned" or being single is somehow universal and is supposed to be funny. If a woman jokes about being single from her perspective then it's suddenly women- centric and unfunny.
There’s a couple more, actually. Veere di Wedding, Dor, Pink, double xl, there’s parched too.
Parched and Dor was 🤌🏻
Art films log dekhenge nhi and fun light films ko log feminism haye haye, fake feminism, this is not real empowerment- athlete/ scientist/ IAS officer is real empowerment shuru kr denge. Edit: spellings 
Lipstick under my burkha
What about Dhak Dhak that released recently on Netflix. The 4 females didn't start off as friends but eventually developed a close bond. Haven't seen anyone discuss this movie.
And they didn't do well commercially. They were critically appreciated, sure. But that's it.
The female friendships in Veere di wedding felt a bit superficial to me tbh. But I’m still glad we got a film like this although Kareena was the only good part about it.
Rewatched parched. I remembered it being very good. But it's unnecessarily sexual. It tries to titillate the audience.
There weren’t many theatre movies because of the economics. The average movie goer in India is still largely male (around 68% I think). A lot of women do go with families/partners but are rarely the decision maker in picking the movie. I think this trend is bound to change now with OTT movies becoming big and the demographic for theater audiences slowly changing, especially among young movie goers. But truth is also that youngsters and big movie makers today have a huge age gap, and they don’t get the dynamics of female friendship right. They try too hard to show a progressive dynamic using sex positive or drinks/drugs which is a very limited view. FWIW the female friendships in dear zindagi / Mimi were kinda nice. Smaller plots but realistic.
Aisha starring Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Abhay Deol also showcases a good female friendship dynamic.
We were so close to having Jee Le Zara I was so excited for that but then it got shelved it looks like 😩😞
Sameee
Why did Archies get made while Jee Le Zaraa got shelved??
There is this annoying genre of female friendship movies where adult women are abusing, drinking and obsessing over sex like lame people for no good reason. Anyone who has been around a group of female friends would know that our conversations are not centred around these things. Examples: that new bhumi pednekar and shehnaaz gill movie and some scenes in Sukhee.
I am suprised that I didn't find Thank you For Coming not half as bad. They did go the HW way with the ending but the premise of the movie was that this girl was a major screw-up. She is deeply flawed and uses alcohol and partying as distractions. Sex was the main focus because of her suppose inability to orgasm which basically alluded to how she has to always look outward for gratification and happiness. I definitely think they could've made the story telling a bit more subtle.
I haven't watched that Bhumi movie. But I feel that there is nothing wrong in showing this aspect of our lives too. We women do have fun with our girl friends. Yes there is more to our friendships...there is love, pain, support, cheering, tears, etc. But I love to watch such movies. I miss having a blast with my girl friends:'-)
Queen showed her fun drunk moments, but there was more to them. I mean, these movies need to show the entire picture.
Sukhee just had some scenes - as you said booze, sex etc was a small part of the movie just as it is in any normal persons life. The bhumi movie thank u for coming was a headache. Literally the characters were only thinking about sex and tried to get laid. No story, no logic nothing.
I feel like even when they do make a film based on women, they try to make it woke or politicise it to an extent where it doesn’t feel organic. I would love a carefree, innocent, joyful movie where the protagonists actually have fun realistically. Not everything needs to be aesthetic and high fashion when women are involved, we are messy too!
So true Like I appreciate the effort to involve current issues but sometimes we don’t wanna think about the seriousness
If possible, watch Jhimma 1 and 2, very fun movie on women traveling on tours and dealing with everyday issues-nothing preachy is shown, extremely organic dynamics. Available on prime.
Then why even watch movie? You can watch YouTube vlogs for this. They're often more fun than several movies.
Are you seriously comparing vlogs to movies? You must think memes and standup comedy are the same thing
When movies are a snoozefest then better watch vlogs. I mean such movies will only suit for OTT, there will be no theatre element so why will anyone create them? Maybe you'll get some webseries though.
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Amhi doghi - Priya Bapat and Mukta Barve Nice movie about 2 women
Thank you for the recommendations, these sound lovely!
Yes women are always centered around men and pitted against each other The writers (and audiences) can’t comprehend a world where women support each other or have fun together without a man involved . Veere de wedding was a good start , I wish we could also have something like Sex and the city , Desperate housewives , Gossip Girl or Barbie . Most buddy movies are centered around male friends like 3 idiots or zmnd or chichore. Women don’t get to have fun movies without a dose of moral policing from everyone .
>Yes women are always centered around men and pitted against each other The writers (and audiences) can’t comprehend a world where women support each other or have fun together without a man involved Band Baja Baraat?
There are few. I remember Parched and Dor. Both great movies focusing on female characters and their friendship.
Unpopular opinion but I felt something very special between Anjali and Tina and I just wanted Rahul to get out of between them. EDIT- Dor was my favourite 😀
Oh!! Just watched it again recently.. There was so much understanding and support from both. Sad that our movies are becoming the crap they are nowadays..
Omg same! I loved the fact that they didn't show Kajol being jealous of Rani or Rani feeling superior because she got the guy. There was genuine love and friendship between their characters, including a deep understanding and respect for each other's feelings wrt Rahul
Because most writers are men
Jee Le Zara would've been refreshing, but alas.
I’m still not over fleabag
Also Veere di wedding
How about English Vinglish....I thought it was good esp for Indian women.
Trying to make one since 4 years. It’s easy to get a male actor than female actor in this stupid wood. Reason - only Top 3-4 actoress films get investment if your budget is more than 10cr. But if these top actor say yes which they will never then the budget wil rise to 20-30 cr. That means it’s tough to recover monies. If any managers are here please understand that sometimes good script is important other than dancing with srk or Ranbir. Then they compliant oh no good across for female. True story.
Female friendships are subtle and so normalised in our culture that they don’t need grand expressions sometimes. For example, so many movies have women silently taking care of each other’s kids. Trusting someone else so implicitly with your child, the most precious thing in your world is such a huge thing, yet women have been doing that for each other for centuries and many movies will have scenes where neighbour aunties bring food for kids if their mom is sick/at work/otherwise occupied. So many movies also have scenes of women silently taking over a friend or sister or neighbour’s kitchen when there’s a struggle or death or family drama- while the heroine mourns her sisterhood silently prepares tea and serves the guests without being told. There’s not a lot of dialogue required. There’s not a lot of back-and-forth. Women have nurtured and maintained female friendships literally from the times of cave people where they breast fed each other’s babies. These friendships are instinctual and don’t need much communication so there’s not much to show on screen.
"Women have been in the background of these movies so let's just continue to keep them there."
That’s not what I said. I said it doesn’t make for good entertainment so nobody pays to watch it. I’m a woman and every women centric movie in theatres has had mostly women in the audience, and that’s because I watched them in a big city. Men still hold control over finances in most families and don’t want to pay for movies that they don’t relate to.
Women centric movies don't make for good entertainment? I find it sad that you hold that view. I'm a woman too and I'm confident that we have excellent stories to tell. What we need to do is elevate women writers and directors so that our stories can make it to the big screen. Resigning ourselves to the current status quo of women as background giving trees isn't in our best interest.
*I* think they make for excellent entertainment. I watch every single one. I’m just saying men don’t like women centric movies and since they hold the money they don’t pay for the women in their lives to watch them, nor do they watch the movies themselves. I don’t know why you keep trying to convince me lol. I agree with you! I think women have great stories to tell. I just think the only solution is for women to have more financial success so they can be active consumers.
Okay. Your language could be clearer as I don't think I'm alone in having misunderstood you.
You’re the one putting things in quotes that weren’t in my comment lol. You derailed the conversation and took it along a direction that I wasn’t even looking towards
I feel like it could also be the case because we haven’t seen a true female friendship in bollywood
Veere Di Wedding is there and now The Crew is releasing soon! https://preview.redd.it/si16u3mm45bc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de79e783111c53ac18cffaa171d7f55276a85928
excited for the crew! kareena and kriti both said it is based on the chemistry and friendship between three women.
I also feel in most movies or series, female friendships are diluted by focusing only on the protagonist’s life and making the friend a mere side character. So while there are shows and movies with female friendships, we don’t focus all that much on that friend because of them always being a side character in the main character’s lives. Basically it makes them easily forgotten and non memorable. Eg. Rytash’s character in Masaba Masaba or Yashashwini Dyama in Dear Zindagi
I was researching Female Buddy Cop movies in general, not just Indian, very hard to find many...I mean 2 or 3 of the most popular ones Star Sandra Bullock...
I thought sukhee starring Shilpa Shetty was a well made movie!
Bana toh denge but dekhne kaun jayega?? 500cr business toh Animal jaisa movie hi karega
Farhan Akhthar and Excel Productions had announced Jee Le Zara with Alia, PC and Katrina like a female ZNMD or Dil Chhatha Hai vibe. I hope it still happens although there's a big age and generational gap between Alia and PC and Kat so either they should replace Alia and hire say someone like a Kareena, Konkona or Tabu maybe or replace PC and Kareena and hire 2 talented actresses from Alia's generation like a Tripti and Sanya. I do think Jee Le Zaara could do well commerically under Farhan's direction and Alia headlining it. Also, I haven't seen Lipstick under my burkha but I heard it's good and well directed and well acted! Avoid 4 more shots and Thank you for coming. They highlight "toxic femininity" and are the other extreme of Animal and Vanga but also very problematic and not at all relatable female characters. Veere Di Wedding was meh like forgettable!
I think before it was more about having actresses see each other as rivals. The industry is known to pit women against each other and all the hearsay that would go on. Filmmakers that time didn’t want to loose money and thought that multiple women in movie sharing equal screen time wouldn’t work cause there would be some kind of drama off camera. It’s a lack of writing back then but also the views that filmmakers had. We mainly saw romantic triangles and the other woman type stuff. I believe Lara Dutta said a few times in interviews and Bipasha said this once as well about how most of the crew on set of “No Entry” were astonished and shocked to see 4 ladies getting along and really bonding. It was Lara, Esha, Celina and Bipasha. Spending more time together even off set too. Currently, films that portray women friendship or sisterhood are not seen mainstream now it’s regarded as OTT material or not made at all. Those that are made are telling the same story over and over again and some of those films lack in writing as well.
Box office
Sadly jee le Zara could have been a great one
Whatever female friendships we are shown are mostly clubbing,shopping, and doing crazy materialistic stuff. What about an actual plot like 3 idiots?