It’s only in Bollywood where “hero” automatically means a male actor. Many actresses have spoken up and rebelled against this idea because female-centric films are the only way to bridge the gap between male and female actors being successful at the box office. Taapsee Pannu is known to be a feminist and she has always worked to break the gender stereotypes that are sweeping this industry. She plans to do this slow and steady because she believes that the idea that a hero is a gender-specific term has been ingrained into the Indian mind. And an Indian doesn’t change his beliefs, he changes everything around him to match his beliefs.
Taapsee said “Now the change cannot come overnight. It requires a lot of perseverance from the side of all female actors who are trying to bring the change.” In today’s world, there is an huge audience for new content and different concepts. With movies like ‘Margarita with a Straw’, ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga”, Bollywood is definitely taking some steps towards accepting homosexual characters and the stories of them breaking free from societal constraints. The lawyers that fought for Section 377 have recently revealed that they were in a relationship but couldn’t be public because of this law.
Women already have a lot of religious, superstitious, familial constraints, they don’t need to be defined by gender roles as well. The talent of actresses seen in a lot of films shows that they can carry a movie, but they have never really been given an actual shot. Bollywood has also created a perception that mainstream movies with A-listers tend to pull crowds to the theatres. However, Taapsee says “I am not giving up easily and succumbing to the pressure that I have to do a certain kind of film to make sure I am saleable. But I can’t change my choice because it doesn’t fall into the conventional formula. I am ok to have my own audience that believes in me and my choice of fims.”
A hero is a hero not because of the gender, but because of character. Are we really teaching our children that a man has more characteristics of a hero than a woman?
Think again. Really, think once again!!
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