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Indian Media and Women Images of Women: The Case of Bollywood Film The film Mother India (1957), directed by Mehboob Khan, stars Nargis, one of the most famous actors in India, in the title role. Her role embraces complex, sometimes contradictory images and identities of Indian women. You will also see an excerpt from the film, Pyaasa, directed by Guru Dutt, in which he sings about the degradation of women in prostitution despite the new, independent India. You will have the entire films here, and also excerpts that focus on the images and representations of women in these films. The words to the famous Pyassa song which Dutt sings are also here for you to read. On Mother India, you will have information on Nargis, the film's star. In films everywhere the star and the character he or she plays in the film are often meshed for viewers. Nargis's willingness to appear in unglamorous ways is important, as is her departure from film when she married. Nargis's character, her well-known affairs with director Raj Kapoor, her later marriage, and her political statements were all part of Bollywood expectations and contradictions for actresses and actors alike.

Introduction

Keywords: Women, Feminism, Film, Bollywood, Hindu deities, Journalism, Delhi, Rape, Sexual harassment, Diaspora, Resistance, Guru Dutt, Deepa Mehta, Mehboob Kahn, Nargis, Celebrity culture, Mother India, Pyaasa, Water, Gender, Misogyny, Celebrity

This module will explore social and cultural representations of, and attitudes toward, women. We will examine how media—film, TV news, online news stories, and advertising—comment on issues of sexual harassment and violence through several kinds of images of women. Our topics will be public and press responses to a major rape/murder case in Delhi in 2012; images of Hindu goddesses; two classic Bollywood films, Mother India (1957, directed by Mehboob Kahn, set in an imaginary village) and Pyaasa (1957, directed by Guru Dutt, set in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta); and one diasporic film, Water (2005, directed by Indo-Canadian Deepa Mehta, set in 1938 in the holy city of Varanasi, formerly Benares). Focusing on film stars and characters, we will examine social and cultural attitudes, media inconsistencies, and complex images of women in film to understand how media representations of women convey social attitudes toward women.

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5. Images of Women: The Case of Bollywood Film The film Mother India (1957), directed by Mehboob Khan, stars Nargis, one of the most famous actors in India, in the title role. Her role embraces complex, sometimes contradictory images and identities of Indian women. You will also see an excerpt from the film, Pyaasa, directed by Guru Dutt, in which he sings about the degradation of women in prostitution despite the new, independent India. You will have the entire films here, and also excerpts that focus on the images and representations of women in these films. The words to the famous Pyassa song which Dutt sings are also here for you to read. On Mother India, you will have information on Nargis, the film's star. In films everywhere the star and the character he or she plays in the film are often meshed for viewers. Nargis's willingness to appear in unglamorous ways is important, as is her departure from film when she married. Nargis's character, her well-known affairs with director Raj Kapoor, her later marriage, and her political statements were all part of Bollywood expectations and contradictions for actresses and actors alike.