OTT Boom: How representation of female friendship and bonds are changing?

OTT Boom: How representation of female friendship and bonds are changing?

Whether it is Hush Hush or Four More Shots Please, celebrating female friendship has become a popular content on OTT. In conversation with Swara Bhasker, Sayani Gupta and Maanvi Gagroo on today’s cinema challenging the conventional gaze of female friendship.

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OTT Boom: How representation of female friendship and bonds are changing?

There was a time woman in cinema were considered to be each other’s rivals. But not anymore, women are more secured now and have a close bond when the try to pull each other up in times of distress. And that’s exactly what cinema today is trying to show through its recently released web shows on OTT like Hush Hush , Four More Shots Please Season 3 and the theatrically released Swara Bhasker starer film Jahaan Chaar Yaar.

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It is a treat to the eyes, ears and most importantly to the soul to see cinema changing and challenging the traditional gaze of women’s friendship. Remember Farhan Akhtar’s directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai showed friendship among male friends and raised the bar of commercial Hindi cinema. Like all other young school and college going girls we too aspired to have fun with our girlfriends, going on an all trip and most importantly being there for each other.

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Actor Sayani Gupta who was recently seen in Four More Shots Please Season 3 says, “I am very lucky in my life to have amazing girl friends in life who stand by me and they are my support system. We are also excited about each other’s success and I think the best gift that I have got are these amazing groups of friends who come together and are with me all the time whether it’s by birthday or a day when I am feeling low.”

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The main foundation when it comes to women friendship is one propping each other up, constantly being able to listen.  Sayani Gupta adds, “If you see most of our partners are not great listens and it is not necessary that you have all the solutions in the world. But it is always my girl friends who have been with me through thick and thin.”

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Maanvi Gagroo who was one of the protagonists of Four More Shots Please says that it is primarily the shared experience of women which kind of brings them together. “No matter how the friends come together, but if there is a thread that binds you. And that’s what makes the friendship strong.”

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In Amazon Prime’s Juhi Chawla starrer Hush Hush too we saw four friends standing by each other. With OTT coming in and with more women writing scripts the narrative for women characters and the depiction of women bonding are changing for good and this is the primary reason the way we look at woman’s roles has changed too. OTT  has given us the freedom and at the larger social level the changes that happened contributed to bigger changes in cinema.

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In Swara Bhasker starer Jahaan Chaar Yaar we get to see for the first time four married women from a small town going on a road trip. Though Jahaan Chaar Yaar was a theatrical release Swara says, “It took nearly ninety years for women playing the protagonist and this could happen only with OTT coming in.”

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Lachmi Deb Roy is the entertainment editor of Firtspost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes huge interest in world cinema. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until its a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too. see more

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