Bollywood
‘Fire’ and Sexuality
Fire served as a seminal piece of media in my life for that reason, not only because of its queer themes and normalisation of LGBTQ+ relationships but because of how it normalises the pursuit of pleasure as a fundamental part of us, and not something we should be ashamed of.
By Katie Yenna
August 10, 2023
सिनेमा, संगीत और सहमति पर बातचीत
गाने अक्सर फिल्मों से अधिक लोकप्रिय होते है और अपने अलग ही मतलब का निर्माण करते हैं। इनका मतलब उनता ही विविध है जितना इनको सुनने वाले लोग। मैं यह बिल्कुल नहीं मानता कि हम जो फिल्म और चित्र देखते है उसका हमारे जीवन पर सीधा असर पड़ता है। हिंसक या अन्यथा मूर्खतापूर्ण कार्यों के लिए दोषी वह ही हैं जो यह कार्य करते हैं और वे जो उन्हें बेहतर शिक्षा दे सकते थे पर उन्होंने ऐसा नहीं किया। शिक्षा और बातचीत से हम युवाओं को सही समझ और बेहतर निर्णय लेने के लिए सक्षम बनाते हैं।
By Manak Matiyani
January 16, 2017
राज कपूर की सत्यम शिवम् सुन्दरम में आकांक्षाएँ और समझौते
सयद साद अहमद द्वारा लिखित “हम क्या वास्तव में सच जानना चाहते हैं? सत्य की क्या आवश्यकता है? उसके बदले…
By Syed Saad Ahmad
January 16, 2017
आनंदमय अज्ञानता से असमानता की समझ
अपने बच्चों को बाहरी दुनिया की बुराइयों से बचाने की अपने यक़ीन के कारण भारतीय परिवार इस सच्चाई को नज़रअंदाज़ कर देते हैं कि बच्चों को भी दुनिया को समझने के लिए तैयारी की ज़रुरत होती है।
By Aditi Mishra
November 19, 2024
Voices: Silencing the Body: On Blissful Cinematic Ignorance and Social Insensitivity
In one of the most compelling and difficult scenes in 2013’s acclaimed Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a young Milkha Singh is…
By Parigya Sharma
Video: Meet The Woman Helping Bollywood Have Better Sex
Aastha Khanna is India’s first intimacy coordinator who is making sure that a film’s vision is realised without flouting anyone’s boundaries, or leading to general awkwardness on set, especially when it comes to intimate scenes.
By TARSHI
March 18, 2024
Video Page: ‘Zinda Laash’, Bollywood’s Norms for ‘Dhandewali’s
“‘Dhandewali’s must smoke; paan is a must; a ‘dhandewali’ can never escape her identity; ‘dhandewali’s must dress ‘differently’… Spanning over 6 decades of Bollywood cinema, ‘Zinda Laash’ highlights how very little has changed across the ages when it comes to the industry’s representation of women in prostitution. Humorously drawing attention to stereotypes, while poignantly highlighting myths, ‘Zinda Laash’ is a tribute to every sex worker who is not recognised as a woman or a human being.”
By Curated Content
The Queerness of Fandom in Bollywood
People looking for queer plots in Bollywood are sometimes disappointed, as the focus on marriage in many films seems to suggest that Bollywood is a conservative genre invested in sanctifying reproductive heteronormativity.
By Ulka Anjaria
November 1, 2021
The Love Laws: Lessons from Shah Rukh Khan and Others
“Only that once again they broke the Love Laws. That lay down who should be loved. And how. And how…
By Shweta Krishnan
February 1, 2018
The Editorial: Fiction and Sexuality
For many of us, it was fiction that fed our souls as children, and now as adults who are still ‘growing up’, it feeds us still. Fiction makes, remakes and unmakes us who walk in worlds of the imagination. It liberates us to dream various versions of ourselves and others into being as the articles in this month’s In Plainspeak eloquently reveal.
By TARSHI
September 15, 2017
The Dirty Picture
The Dirty Picture, directed by Milan Luthria (2011) has ushered in various debates around sexuality through its representation of sexuality…
By Sujatha Subramanian
October 1, 2014
The Construction of Women as Spaces
This article explores how women are constructed as a ‘space’ manufactured by men to seek comfort, but void of having any active agency or participation in that space itself. I seek to bring this out in this article by drawing a parallel between the nineteenth century ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India) and the depiction of the twenty-first century ‘heroine’ in Bollywood movies.
By Tanvi Chattoraj
April 1, 2022
TARSHI at the Movies!
We decided to watch Animal and OMG 2 and found that both the movies bring up many of the issues that we work on.
By TARSHI
March 18, 2024
Some Contemporary Hindi Films that Changed the Way We Perceive Sexuality
When representing sexuality, these stories went beyond dramatic and one-dimensional representations of sex and sexual orientation.
By Breakthrough Media Team