Author: ResearchGate

Abstract: »The paper analyzes the shifts in recent rape-and-revenge movies in Bollywood. Although rape-and-revenge has been a popular trope in Bollywood movies since the eighties, they focused on the victim narrative based on the loss of honor, and disgrace (and, consequently, on the family and community). Feminist critiques of such movies also highlighted the portrayal of sexual violence based on sexual arousal. The Nirbhaya rape case has shifted the discourse from honor/shame to women’s self-assertion. The avenging figure, in these contemporary movies, is usually the mother. The movies which form a part of the analysis are Jazbaa (IND 2015), Maatr (IND 2017), and Mom (IND 2017). While the earlier movies were based on the dangers faced primarily by working women owing to their presence in public spaces, contemporary movies comment on the dangers faced by women in public or personal spaces at night. The current rape-and-revenge movies also differ from the earlier movies in this genre as they do not dramatize rape catering to the lens of fetishization. Rather they depict rape as a brutal, violent act. The paper argues that such narratives are important interventions to criticize rape culture even though the audience’s gaze is directed more towards the vigilante mother rather than the rape victim. The paper also argues that revenge in these movies is facilitated by neoliberalism which is characteristic of Indian middle-class femininity« (Source: Article)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. 159)
	Introduction (p. 159)
	Constructing the avenging heroine (p. 160)
	Locating the genre of rape-and-revenge movies since the 1980s (p. 163)
	The Neoliberal Avenging Mother (p. 166)
	Conclusion: Relevance of the rape-and-revenge genre in Indian film culture (p. 169)
	Bibliography (p. 170)
	Filmography (p. 172)

Lecture: Chaudhuri, Sanchari B. »From honor/shame to women-in-action: a discursive study of Rape and Revenge in Bollywood movies.« Rape and Revenge: Rache-Kulturen und sexualisierte Gewalt in intermedialer Perspektive. Hamburg 2022. - Bibliographic Entry: Info

Wikipedia: History of Asia: History of India | Film: Hindi cinema / Jazbaa, Maatr, Mom | Film: Rape and revenge | Sex and the law: Rape / Rape in India