Author:  Nandini Raghavendra, ET Bureau
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: December 30, 2012
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/media/entertainment-/entertainment/bollywood-to-show-more-respect-to-women-film-makers-already-calling-to-introspect/articleshow/17824099.cms

In most mofussil towns of India, a typical matinee show at a film hall would comprise a group of well-mannered people - mostly family - perched in the balcony or dress circle, and another set that occupies the cheaper front-rows whistling and dancing away, and even showering coins, as raunchy item numbers come alive on screen.
 Songs like 'Munni badnam hui' and 'Shiela ki jawani' with a scantily clad girl gyrating with men falling all over, usually form the pivot of superhit Bollywood films these days, and are often released ahead of the film as they make for good publicity. Over the years, these item girls have gone from being an embarrassment (to the family crowd) to being acceptable, to being a given - with so-called 'vamps' giving way to the film's heroine as performers. But the death of the Delhi rape victim and the ensuing public outcry could stop the music on them.

 Several film-makers are already calling for Bollywood to introspect the way they make their movies, with some demanding that the commoditisation of women - through item numbers, lewd dialogues, rapes scenes, even eve-teasing and stalking - be severely dealt with.

 "It sends out all the wrong signals and subliminally endorses that this kind of behaviour is fine," says producer and director Farhan Akhtar, who has also acted in a few Bollywood movies. "These scenes support gender insensitivity," he says, demanding that female leads, who enact these scenes, act with greater responsibility.

 Young film-makers like Akhtar point to the portrayal of certain situations in films where leading men are shown constantly chasing women, who eventually succumb to the "charms" of the hero. Akhtar calls it "near stalking". Fellow producer Karan Johar blames these visuals on a problem in content. "The fault is in our screenplays," he says.

 Actor Shah Rukh Khan has been apologetic in his tweets. In one of the several messages he left on Twitter after the rape victim died, he said: "Rape embodies sexuality as our culture & society has defined it. i am so sorry that i am a part of this society and culture."

Actor Rahul Bose has tweeted that item numbers are indicative of systemic disrespect for women.

 Cinema has played a part in shaping the Indian society as it is one of the few forms of entertainment accessible to its majority. Young boys have grown up aping popular actors, reciting their famous dialogues and even sporting their hairstyle. If Dev Anand set the fashion trends in the 1960s, Rajesh Khanna became the rage during the 70s, Amitabh Bachchan took over in the 80s and Shah Rukh and Salman Khan became the badshahs of the current times. For young minds, they are larger than life and their influence stays beyond the growing years, and, coupled with other societal factors such as being brought up in a patriarchal society, often lead to disrespect for women, and can culminate in acts of crime like the one in Delhi.

 "Cinema and society feed off each other. So, cinema reflects and dramatises prevalent social attitudes. But, once portrayed on the big screen these seem to acquire a certain legitimacy for people to imitate it," says Anjum Rajabali, a member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). While contesting that Indian films sanctify pestering and stalking of women, the scriptwriter, however, admits that "there have been films that have treated such actions as a legitimate way of attracting a woman, but then that one finds in every kind of narrative literature or cinema".