Mixtures of Women Roles in Masala Films

Popular Indian cinema usually includes an intricate love triangle along, plenty of song and dance, along with a mixture of comedy, action, and romance. Cinema productions of this nature are known as ‘Masala’ films in contemporary Indian culture, the term coming from the identical word meaning a mixture of spices in Indian cuisine. Women in Masala pictures are usually treated with admiration and respect, but at the same time they are required to adhere to the traditions of their cultures. Some cultures depicted in these films call for arranged marriages occasionally leaving characters, both men and women, unhappy due to previously made arrangements. To express the characteristics of Indian cinema we will compare and contrast women roles in two Masala films that were intended to appeal to more international audiences.

The first is “Swades: We, the People” an Indian film produced by director Ashutosh Gowariker. It is very much a classical Masala film with a few exceptions. The first is that the hero in the film is not a simple man from a local village (which is common), but a NASA scientist working in the USA who is drawn back to his Indian roots. The other exception in the film is that there is no clear antagonist in the film, leaving it up to the audience’s insight and perception to find one. Both of these plot traits are shared by the other film: “Marigold: An Adventure in India” which is a co-production between Hollywood and Bollywood film companies with a story based in Mumbai, India. According to Samantha Haque “Marigold” is “the film that marries America's millions with India's silver screen charm” and “is Hollywood's first proper footing into the land of Bollywood (Haque).”
Before one can compare these movies on a cross-cultural basis one must understand the roles women play in Indian cinema. Female characters typically fit into the four main roles of women in Indian cinema: mother, wife, vamp, and courtesan as described by Gokulsing and Dissanayake. In “Swades” there are two prevalent female characters each taking one of these roles. The first of these is the protagonist’s childhood nanny Kaveriamma who takes the classical role of mother. The mother figure is important in many cultures, “but Indian reference to the mother is loaded with religious significance and the country is conflated with the mother goddess, Shakti (literally strength). The concept of the country as mother finds resonance in the national hymn Vandemataran! (Hail ‘Mother (land)’) (Gokulsing, Dissanayke)” Keveriamma fits this role perfectly; to begin with she is the reason that the protagonist initially comes back to India, his motherland, and begins to rediscover his roots. She ultimately leads the protagonist to meet the love of his life, who in the end causes the protagonist to move back to India permanently.
The other significant female character portrayed in “Swades” is Gita, a local native of India who lives with the protagonist’s childhood nanny. The two fall in love over the course of the film and many of the protagonist’s actions are to obtain the admiration of Gita. Gita represents the wife character in the obvious fact that she and the protagonist fall in love, but also in that she is confined by some traditions of her culture. A particular tradition that Gita openly disagrees with is that she is expected to marry and settle down into a traditional wife’s lifestyle with no personal ambitions or goals. She expresses her dislike by consistently declining marriage proposals. Although it is not shown if Gita and Mohan are married, it does portray them happily together as the story comes to a close. Gina’s disregard for tradition is actually a typical aspect of female vamp figures in Indian cinema. Gokulsing and Dissanayake assert that “this ideal wife must be sexually pure and the epitome of sexual fidelity. (Gokulsing, Dissanayake)” In “Swades” Gita effectively shows the audience that she is pure at heart, has good intentions, and is in love with the protagonist thus wholly filling the wife role in Indian cinema.
In “Marigold” there are also two significant women throughout the story. Neither of them falls under only one of the four traditional women roles, but are variations and combinations of the roles. The first woman of the film I would like to discuss is Jhanvi, a woman who has an arranged marriage with Prem, the main male character whom Marigold falls in love with. Jhanvi is an interesting mixture of the aforementioned women roles in Indian cinema. “The courtesan in Indian films is represented as existing outside the normal domain of domesticity and she is deeply attracted to the protagonist of the film, although usually he does not fall in love with her. (Gokulsing, Dissanayake)” The protagonist in Marigold is not a man, but Jhanvi is in love with and arranged to marry Prem who instead falls for the female protagonist. Jhanvi characterizes the essence of the courtesan role while still embodying other roles as well. During the film one learns that Jhanvi supported Prem leaving to pursue music and dance, and also later supporting the decisions he makes in his love life, even though they go against her own wishes. Jhanvi’s selflessness and goodwill when dealing with Prem shows her as a mother like figure. Jhanvi’s also believes in true love shown after Marigold runs away from Prem after hearing the truth; “she is urged back by Jhanvi who confesses that Prem doesn’t love her and never will. (Gajjar)” In the end of the film Jhanvi helps Marigold by exchanging places with her on her wedding day with Prem. This leaves everyone surprised, even Prem, once Marigold is unveiled as the bride. Jhanvi is an important character in Marigold symbolizing an intelligent, beautiful, and kind woman in Indian culture.
This leaves Marigold Lexton, the protagonist and heroine of the film. When the audience first meets Marigold she resembles the vamp figure in traditional Indian cinema more than any other role. The vamp is characterized as “normally a decadent modern woman, generally with a name like Rosie or Mary. She flouts tradition and seeks to imitate western women… she is portrayed as a morally degraded person and has come to be associated with everything that is unwholesome about the west. (Gokulsing, Dissanayake).” Marigold has the obvious advantage of being a westerner and having no need to imitate western women. During the film Prem tells Marigold in person that she has no self respect and that anybody could tell by the way she acts. This leads to a series of events that lead to Marigold becoming transformed into a more ideal wife. Along the path of this alteration Marigold falls in love, learns to sing and dance Bollywood style, and has a definite change of attitude towards life. Marigold eventually comes to portray the ideal wife figure in traditional Indian cinema, fortified by the fact that she is married to Prem in the end of the film.
Culture can be seen as a major factor in these films depiction of women. Both share subplots of arranged marriages, but portray them slightly different. In “Swades,” Gita refuses to marry because of her distaste in traditional women roles in society. In “Marigold” Prem and Jhanvi are arranged to marry and must follow through with because of their customs. Jhanvi realizes that Prem loves Marigold and helps her secretly marry Prem in front of everyone. Both movies tend to stray towards independent thought in women roles in society, instead portraying the women as the in charge ones. All act out of what they believe to be right, even though they were raised in a culture with opposing values.
In conclusion, women in Indian cinema depict many different roles and figures. Women in contemporary Indian cinema tend to prefer to stand up for what they believe is right, no matter the consequences. The four traditional roles in Indian cinema can still be seen today in Indian cinema, although they are more open minded to a cultural revolution calling for a change in the way their own cultural system works. At times it also becomes hard to distinguish the different roles from each other with characters portraying aspects from multiple ones.