The Depiction Of Rape Scenes In Popular Hindi Cinema : A Critical Examination Of Representation Of Gender In Media

Abstract

The portrayal of female gender in performing arts has been a product of constant societal change. From the days when Female parts were acted upon by male counterparts to the advent of motion pictures and the role of women in making the medium their own , the journey has been long. This can be also studied under the context of anthropology, gender issues, and women emancipation. The female characters have been always fixed into the narrative by the virtue of a certain appeal they exhibit. From Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory in cinema to the aesthetics of violence in cinema , both have been depicted in experimental ways in films. The portrayal of rape scenes dishonoring the basic existential being of any women have been shot in a number of ways to make a case in point in the film narrative.  The shooting of such sequences and the psychological impact of this on the female casts is a critical study within cinema studies. Much to the women empowerment and vocal voices there has been a critical debate on how to film the female body and more so traumatic sequences such as the depiction of rape in the narrative.