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Kahaani, Gulaab Gang and Queen: Remaking the queens of Bollywood

Bollywood’s depiction of its female characters tends to be regressive. Recently, however, movies like Kahaani (2012), Queen (2014) and Gulaab Gang (2014) depict a limited presence of male characters or no male protagonist, thus focusing all attention on the female character and its development. Examining the construction/depiction of the Indian woman free from a validating male presence, this paper discusses the new trend in Bollywood post-2010 and views it as an indirect response to both the increasing role women are playing in the Indian economy and the rising violence directed towards Indian women in the twenty-first century. Introducing six tropes common to Kahaani, Queen and Gulaab Gang to analyze the new trend, the paper argues that these movies offer a nuanced understanding of the Indian woman by implicating the audience and its perception of female characters, and by simultaneously highlighting the inherent multiplicities within the seemingly homogenous category of Indian femininity. Depicted as individuals first and not symbols of family and nation, these new queens of popular Bollywood films set a precedent, provide some much needed inspiration and become empowered role models that resonate with the population.