Rain, Romance and Bollywood

Growing up, Bollywood played a rather quintessential role in my life. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Jab We Met to Aashiqui 2, all that's changed is I've grown older and hopefully, more mature, while most of Bollywood has stayed the same.

One thing that has stood the test of time in this multi-billion dollar industry- besides the same old actors (and their family), masala content, variations of sexism, and colourism- is rain. I don’t think Samuel Johnson would applaud this sort of 'standing the test of time'! Nevertheless, is a Bollywood movie even complete without the heavens being torn apart, the pitter-patter of raindrops, and the essential romantic music number? The scenes where baarish arouses the characters leading to a sensual scene right in the middle of the road?

Whether it be Raveena Tandon and Akshay Kumar in Mohra, or Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapoor in Aashiqui, the rain calls for romance. Most often featuring the heroine in a chiffon saree, while the camera films the intersection of rain and see-through material. However, like many things depicted in our movies, I want to know if the formula of rain equals romance is practical. Is it true? Or sexist? The first thing that crosses my mind- where in our beloved country would there be a deserted main road? A road specifically designed for all the lovers to land up when it rains, without creepy spectators and judgemental intruders? Impossible. If it were to be tested in real terms, the traffic police would come in the way, or innumerable passengers in need of some entertainment whilst waiting for the traffic to clear up would instantly begin catcalling. If you happen to be fortunate enough to escape these eagle eyes, the slush on the ground would definitely get to you. Thanks to our politicians' continuous and ardent efforts in improving infrastructure, you would find many splashes of a unique concoction of mud, dirt, dung, and rain on your impeccable saree and wannabe romance.

Speaking of impeccable sarees, it's surprising that these heroines never get their garb dirty! Despite jumping, dancing, and even rolling on the road, their white sarees are spotless. Has anyone in Bollywood experienced rain? Does anyone worry about catching the flu, or will the all-time favourite haldi ka doodh solve this as well?

But something more glaringly unsound to me is this: has no one heard of acid rain? In the past decade, the climate has changed drastically and the earth is getting hotter every minute but all our movies care about is if this impractical scene is hot enough for them to earn big bucks!

Besides the impracticality of these depictions, the objectification of a woman's body is rampant. Inevitably, the heroine's body parts take centre stage to add to the sensuality of the scene. Just for these few minutes, the male lead isn't the hero of the film, unsurprisingly - without any objection. God forbid a blockbuster movie with a female lead and driven plot – that would be doomsday!

Whether there be rain or no, a sweeping majority of Bollywood films portray women as mere objects, solely present for the entertainment and pleasure of the hero, a distraction. The only cases where they manage to achieve some level of respect is when they play the mother or an embodiment of ‘pure’ Indian values. For this reason, Bollywood portrays women as wives, mothers or daughters, but the objectification still stays strong. No wonder feminism is considered an evil in this society and the number of assaults on women only increases. The idea of a woman as an individual is too far fetched for many, and the movie industry has a key role in this sad state of affairs. With an audience base of more than 6.6 million viewers, many of whom worship the industry, a great power lies within these films. Catcalling, item numbers, stereotyping only lead to the strengthening of the same problematic notions in the general public, thus adding to the pre-existing subjugation of women. With that being said, some projects attempt to break these patriarchal conventions, like ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ or the newer ‘Four More Shots Please’. However, they are far from mainstream production, and therefore don’t reach a larger audience.

The cinema industry will continue feeding us such 'item numbers' in the name of entertainment if viewers don't make the conscious choice of boycotting them. It is the least we could do to create an inkling of change even, in the general mindset. Maybe it's time to read some of Robert Frosts' poems or even watch ‘The Parasite’ to learn that rain is much more than just an excuse to objectify the woman's body. It could be used to portray the dichotomy of social classes as in The Parasite, or even as metaphors for the characters' internal turmoil as in ‘Shawshank Redemption’. The rain has the capacity of so much more than what Indian cinema believes it could do, and unsurprisingly what women can do too.

Aliya Fathima Sheriff

19/UELA/046