Rocky Aur Rani: A Patriarchal Kahani
There seems to be a trend in Bollywood movies lately. Toxic patriarchy is being addressed – more and more vehemently. I mentioned Satyaprem ki Katha recently, and in this post, I want to commend the bold step forward Karan Johar and his team have taken to bring awareness to how toxic the patriarchy really is…
Couched in the usual “masala” – bold colors, fun songs, comedy, and drama – Rocky aur Rani goes a step further to expose how harmful it can be when women uphold the suppression of women. Spoilers begin here.
Dhanlakshmi is a successful business owner, but she embodies and dishes out the same cold and conservative, not to mention controlling behavior, as her mother in law. She controls her son, Tijori, never allowing him to be affectionate to his own ailing father. She controls her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, who hide from their own dreams and potential careers, emotionally eating their way to some joy, only to be ridiculed by Dhanlakshmi and Tijori.
Enter Rani, the love interest of Rocky (Dhanlakshmi’s grandson), a liberated career woman who believes that anyone of any gender should have equal treatment. She comes from a family in which her father (also ridiculed in the course of the movie, along with Rocky, who speaks cutely wonky English) is a kathak dancer and is laughed at for choosing this profession. A whole host of gender stereotypes are exposed, along with biases and how much it hurts to be laughed at.
Long story short, Rani motivates and supports Dhanlakshmi’s daughter-in-law and granddaughter to pursue their respective passions: singing, and investing. The harshness with which all three women eventually stand up to the men is something I have not seen in a Bollywood film – it is done without any holding back. It is a clear “ENOUGH” from these women who symbolize the collective feminine awakening we are now seeing. It is truly time to be done with the old toxic ways of the patriarchy. Women are not objects to be given or taken in marriage, to be objectified and controlled, and to be suppressed. Women, like people of any gender, are sacred beings to be respected.
One beautiful example of breaking gender stereotypes is Rani’s father, the katha dancer, who is supported by Jamini, his mother. Jamini teaches her dancing son that talent is beyond gender. She supports him even as her husband beats her. She also breaks taboos by declaring her long time love for another man, stating simply and powerfully that she received more love from the other man in a few days than from her husband in many years. She is unapologetic about the love she received. She defies conventional gender stereotypes of fidelity to abusive husbands, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind and validate her reality.
The high-profile cast, music, and Bollywood container (including the masala I mentioned earlier) make this an unmistakable attempt to push the women’s liberation agenda to Indian masses and beyond. I hope this film is hugely successful. It deserves to be!
