Women held centrestage in Bollywood in 2017

New Delhi, Jan 1: The world of Bollywood -- known for its predominance of stories revolving around men -- last year saw women holding the centrestage with a number of films released in 2017 reflecting their desires and preferences. 

Films like 'Anarkali of Arah', 'Simran','Tumhari Sulu', 'Bareilly Ki Barfi ' and 'Lipstick Under My Burqa' saw women being the focus of attention rather than their male counterparts.
Be it the story of a bored housewife trying her hand at being a radio jockey as a means to escape her humdrum existence in 'Tumhari Sulu', an unconventional girl looking for a suitable boy for herself in 'Bareilly Ki Barfi ' or women from different walks of life trying to fulfill their secret desires in a male dominated system in 'Lipstick Under My Burqa', the year 2017 saw Bollywood increasingly come up with films that reflected a society where women are increasingly forthright about their desires and their choices.
The last year saw release of 'Tumhari Sulu', a slice-of-life film reflecting the desire of a housewife Sulochana (Vidya Balan) to get out of her humdrum existence and carve an identity for herself.
Directed by Suresh Triveni', 'Tumhari Sulu' is about a happy go lucky housewife Sulochana who dreams of a life beyond the confines of her home. It is this desire that leads her to become a night RJ in a radio station. The film struck a chord with its depiction of insecurities existing in housewife in middle-class nuclear households.
Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s 'Bareilly Ki Barfi' dealt with the story of an unconventional small town woman Bitti (Kriti Sanon) looking for acceptance in a society which expects its women as paragons of virtue.
Featuring Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi and Seema Pahwa in key roles, the film shows how Bitti, a small town modern woman who drinks and does break dance, wishes to be accepted as she is. Having found acceptance in the pages of a book titled Bareilly Ki Barfi, Bitti sets out to meet Pritam Vidrohi (Rajkummar), the author of the book with help from Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann), who incidentally is the actual author.
The film won rave reviews from critics and turned out to be an above average grosser.
'Lipstick Under My Burqa' was another film that bought alive on screen the efforts by women to fulfill their desires in a male dominated system. Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, it deals with lives of four middle-class womanhood living in a small town but looking to fulfill their desires.
Featuring Ratna Shah Pathak, Konkona Sensharma, Plabita Borthakur and Aahana Kumra, released, evoked controversy with the censor board due to its depiction of women’s sexual desires. Another film that focussed on a girl's desire to realise her dreams was 'Secret Superstar '.
Advait Chandan’s debut film Secret Superstar is a story of a tenth standard student Insiya Malik (Zaira Wasim), who dreams of becoming a successful singer in Bollywood in the face of fierce opposition from her father. The film charts Insiya's journey to realise her dream.
The year also saw the release of films like 'Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana' and 'Badrinath ki Dulhanian', which showed their women protagonists (Kriti Kharbanda & Alia Bhatt) elope from their marriage function to fulfill their dreams of becoming an IRS officer and a flight attendant.
Another film where women held centrestage this year was 'Anarkali of Arah'.
Written and directed by debutant Avinash Das, the movie was about a small-town erotic folk dancer in Arrah in Bihar ( Swara Bhaskar). It revolves around her confrontation with a vice chancellor played by Sanjay Mishra. 
In an industry known for its predominance of stories revolving around men, films like 'Anarkali of Arah', 'Simran', 'Tumhari Sulu', 'Bareilly Ki Barfi ' and 'Lipstick Under My Burqa' featuring women at the centrestage, came as a breath of fresh air. 
The trade experts feel that the reasonably good showing by many of these films like Tumhari Sulu', 'Bareilly Ki Barfi ' and 'Lipstick Under My Burqa' at the box office could well pave the way for many more such films in the coming years. UNI