Watch: Critics discuss how Bollywood's getting better with women centric films

In the newest episode of Film Stripped, Entertainment Editor of CNN-IBN, Rajeev Masand, Entertainment Editor of Firstpost, Deepanjana Pal and journalist Mihir Fadnavis discuss the leading ladies of our films and how women centric films have gotten better this year. They talk about how this is the first time Bollywood had a coming of age story from a woman’s perspective in Queen yet it is still producing films like Mardaani that harks back to the old Bollywood tradition of ‘if the protagonist is a strong woman she beats up men’, like our heroes does. [caption id=“attachment_1692077” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Youtube screengrab[/caption] Fadnavis points out that a lot of film makers confuse women oriented films with feminist films and with exploitation film and manipulative cinema in general. The critics also discuss how not just the roles that they portray but the image of actresses have also changed in recent times. Pal notes, “.. the availability of an actress was a big deal. Previously actresses did not want to own up to the relationships, not because they wanted to maintain privacy but because the general wisdom was that if the audience think that you are taken, then you are not desirable. So, from there to be in a position where you have married actresses who aren’t hiding their relationship status, to be a respectable actress doesn’t mean you have to dress a particular way….” They also discuss what they expect from women centric films in Bollywood. Click on the video to listen to the full discussion: