- Saturday, July 02, 2022
By: Murtuza Nullwala
When we say the word ‘Bollywood’, the things that come in everyone’s mind is dance numbers, action sequences, romantic scenes and then finally, a happy ending. However, Bollywood filmmakers have been exploring different genres and giving cinema some movies that are not just about entertainment but also talk about issues that are very relevant.
Today, let’s look at the list of films that spoke about the social taboos in India…
Julie
In 1975 released Julie, starring Lakshmi Narayan and Vikram Makandar in the lead role. The movie in the 70s spoke about the taboos of inter-caste marriage and a girl becoming pregnant without getting married. The film surprisingly received a good response and even won many awards. In 2000, Kundan Shah made Kya Kehna starring Preity Zinta in the lead role. The film had a similar concept about a girl getting pregnant without getting married.
Prem Rog
Rishi Kapoor and Padmini Kolhapure starrer Prem Rog showcased how women were treated after their husband’s death. A widow had to cut her hair, wear only white clothes and many other things. It also spoke about widow remarriage.
Fire
Nowadays we have many films that are being made on homosexuality. But in the 90s it was Deepa Mehta who dared to explore a story of a lesbian relationship between two women in her directorial Fire. The movie starred Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das in the lead roles and sparked up a lot of controversies when it was released.
My Brother Nikhil
Onir’s My Brother Nikhil got two social taboos on the big screen together. While the movie spoke about a man suffering from HIV, it also tackled homosexuality in a wonderful manner. Sanjay Suri and Juhi Chawla were fantastic in the film.
Ki & Ka
The husband sits at home and cooks, and the wife goes out and earns money. This is something we cannot imagine in real life, at least in India, but well, we got to see it in on the big screen in Ki & Ka. Arjun was seen as a house-husband and Kareena played the role of a bread-earner.
Lipstick Under My Burkha
A woman’s sexual desire is something that we don’t much talk about. But Lipstick Under My Burkha turned out to be a very different film. It actually spoke about ‘what women want?’. The movie was about four women of different ages and their desires.
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
If a man talks about suffering from erectile dysfunction, in a local language he would be called a ‘na-mard’ (impotent). So, not many men would speak up about such issues. The male lead in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan suffered from erectile dysfunction and the movie showcased that how love is important more than sex.
PadMan
The biggest taboo in India is menstruation also known as periods. Not just men, but even women are shy to speak about it. Akshay Kumar’s PadMan kind of broke the taboo, but still talking about periods openly is not less than a crime. However, it was clearly amazing to see a superstar holding a pad in his hand and talking about menstruation.
Now soon we will get to see a movie titled Khandaani Shafakhana on the big screen. In the film, Sonakshi Sinha’s character runs a sex clinic and tries to solve people’s sexual problems. We wonder if the film will be accepted by the audience or not. Let’s wait and watch.
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