PINK AND SOME SHADES OF GREY

From the days of Manusmriti to John Gray, attempts to understand women have been made in our society. The only problem is that those attempts have been largely tempered with the prevalent societal mindset, predominantly driven by male psyche. Feminist writers, too, have not been very successful in ridding their thoughts of this male-centric obsession.

As debates across the country are getting shriller over the issue of triple talaq, there is a need to look at women, understand them from the point of view of a woman. While Muslim Personal Law and advocates of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) may be in the process of preparing for a showdown, we require to look at the entire subject of women’s place in society objectively, as an independent entity. Needless to say that the issue of triple talaq arises from the patriarchal attitude of society at large. In fact, even the so-called progressive societies of the West cannot be said to be completely free of those male-centric biases, though there are indications that some changes have taken place.

But despite that, there is still a long way to go as the basic attitude of society remains mired in the belief that it was Adam from whose ribs God created Eve, for Adam. That, however, is a different part of the story. But attempts have been made by a few creative and sensitive sections of society to vouch for the genuine position of women.

This has been reflected in the films of both the West and East, particularly Bengal and Mumbai in India, and Hollywood in the US. It was in the early Fifties when Hollywood gave us Woman of Rome starring the sensational Gina Lollobrigida. For most parts, the film was a depiction of exploitation of a woman and her resistance against the male hegemony in society.

Then in the early Sixties, Bengal saw the genius of Satyajit Ray portray women’s plight through his classic Mahanagar. This was the story of an urban woman faced with contemporary realities of life. It was about a working woman and her travails as she tries to wriggle out of the male-dominated family to seek economic emancipation. It reflected patriarchal attitudes and societal dynamics. In the early Eighties, Hollywood gave The Lonely Lady based on the famous novel of Harold Robbins, again depicting the trial by fire that a woman has to undergo to find her place in society.

More recently, there have been many such attempts by societies of both the West and East that suggest that some churning, even if mild, is going on if the films and media are any indication of the societal mindset. Latest in that trend is the Bollywood film Pink that took up a bold initiative to raise the issue of choice and freedom of woman in physical relationships. This issue has always raised one-sided questions on morality and virtuosity, leading to a basic issue whether morality is only a gender-specific attribute.

This has been clearly brought out in the film craftily directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. Amitabh Bachchan’s masterly performance adds to its impact. As we prepare to witness hullabaloo over the UCC, the issue of gender equity may get skirted over. Triple talaq is a wider question of women as a class rather than religion.