Portrayal of Female Protagonists in Hindi Films: A Study on Changing Trends

Cinema is one of the most popular forms of mass consumption that continuously conditioning the cultural values in Indian society. It plays a crucial role in informing, entertaining and educating its audiences. It has always seen as an important medium through which the harsh realities of life expressed through its fictional characters. Films with female protagonists are not new to Indian cinema; however, contemporary film makers are now even more comfortable in making bold films. Such female-led brings out the problems and success stories of women upfront, by allowing women to talk about it in public. By showing women as emotionally and economically independent, female centric films encourage societal change in the treatment of women in the patriarchal Indian society.Numerous studies have been conducted on the Indian Cinema Industry, and on the stereotypical portrayal of women in commercial Indian cinema. Although there have been some women - centered movies that have tried to address women’s issues, there has been very little, if any, research done on the portrayal of women in these films. In these movies, women are shown to break out of the conventional roles, and proved themselves as a maker of meaning. It is in this context the present paper makes an attempt to analyze women centric movies by focusing on the changing trends in the portrayal of female characters in film narratives.