Speaker: ResearchGate

Abstract: »The paper analyzes the discursive shift amongst the recent Rape and Revenge movies in Bollywood. Although Rape and Revenge has been a popular trope in Bollywood movies, it focused on the victim narrative based on the loss of honor, bringing shame upon herself (and, consequently, the family and community). Feminist critiques of such movies also highlighted portrayal of sexual violence based on titillation (Tupur Chatterjee, 2017). The Nirbhaya case has shifted the discourse from honor/shame to women’s self-assertion. The avenging figure, in the contemporary movies, is usually the mother. The movies which form a part of the analysis are Jazbaa (2015), Maatr (2017) and Mom (2017). While the earlier movies were based on the dangers faced primarily by working women owing to their presence in public spaces, the contemporary movies assert women’s loitering in public spaces for leisure, even at night. It also discredits the case for women staying alone or travelling without any male accomplice as an available body. Moreover, it also discusses sexual violence as brutal, away from the lens of fetishization. The post-Nirbhaya discourse in India have been replete with feminist voices about the rights of women to loiter and to inhabit spaces independently congruent with neoliberalism.
The paper argues that these movies focus on the inability of the state to deliver justice when the accused belong to the powerful elite. Moreover, the surveillance gazes at the avengers more than the accused. In doing so, the focus of the movie shifts from the victim-survivor to that of the avenging figure. Additionally, the gruesome description of the sexual violence centres on narration but the audience does not witness women’s experiences or their trauma as survivors. Owing to these limitations, the portrayal of rape and revenge in Bollywood movies caters more to the avenging aspect than to the actual discourse of rape.« (Source: Online Program)

Publication: Chaudhuri, Sanchari B. »Neoliberal Avenging Moms? Examining Rape-and-Revenge in Bollywood Movies.« Rape and Revenge: Rache-Kulturen und sexualisierte Gewalt in intermedialer Perspektive. Edited by Christine Künzel et al. Göttingen 2024: 159-172. - 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