Cinema And Morality

In order to understand the conflict

between cinema and morality, it is

important to understand the journey

of women in movies over the years.

After all, in most cases, morality is said

to be violated because of ‘indecent’

and ‘immoral’ depiction of women.

Indian Cinema is the most ‘larger

than life’ aspect of our relatively small

world. It is that reflection which never

fails to depict society in its truest and

even its fakest form. 100 years ago,

when our cinematic journey began, so

began an influence, so impactful that

none can deny. The social structure

wanted to or agreed to act in the film.

Cinema was a taboo and women most

of all, could not be associated with

such an immoral business (Warsi,

2009, p. 13).

Dadasaheb even approached

prostitutes who are considered lesser

moral than the immaculate ladies of

our homes. But he faced refusal by

these ‘demeaning’ women too. Finally,

Phalke convinced a waiter named

Salunki to don the role of ‘Taramati’.

The first Indian film had a man playing

the female lead. After all, women are

Morality and the Media- A paper by Zeba Warsi, PGDJ183, Asian College of Journalism. Page 6

Dissertation, Asian College of Journalism

fit to be daughters, wives and mothers.

They dare not enter the big bad world

of the glamour industry, lest they lose

their ‘virtue’.

When renowned theater artist

Durga Khote took up the role of

an ‘unabashed’ and talkative girl

in a film called ‘Trapped’ (1931),

she was ostracized by her beloved

Maharashtrian community1

a year, she had to denounce her

role and take up a demure role in

a mythological movie Ayodhya Ka

Raja (1932). Such was the societal

pressure. Such were the restrictions

on women.
...

... middle of paper ...

...icture (2011) was entertainment for

us. The protagonist reveled in being

commoditized and we raised no

alarm because the ‘Dirty Silk’, after

all, is a bad girl. When the character

commits suicide, not many feel sorry

for her. After all, she dug her own

grave. So, we may be accepting Vidya

Balan dancing on Oo La La and we

did welcome it as entertainment. But

as a society, we would not consider

her ‘marriage material’.

Under this false pretence of

progressive cinema, the sad truth is,

we are still confined to the archaic

bondage of stereotypes. Have we

really come a long way from the

quintessential ‘Maa’ to the ‘Dirty Silk’?

The journey of women in Indian

Cinema proves that the concept

of morality keeps changing as per

changing social times (Anand, 2010).

In an evolving society like that of

India, ‘decency and morality’ are