Episode 20 - What Bollywood Taught Us

Women in Labour

How has the depiction of work changed in popular culture over time? Traditionally, how have women been portrayed in Indian movies vis-a-vis work and careers? Christina and Aditi sit down with award-winning long form journalist, Sohini Chattopadhyay to understand how Bollywood has traditionally depicted India’s women in labour. And whether this depiction is evolving—or devolving. With special guest, Sohini Chattopadhyay Sohini Chattopadhyay is an award-winning long form journalist who has written for publications all over the world. She writes a column on women in film for Film Companion She has won the Bala Kailasam citation for reporting on the web in 2017, the Ramnath Goenka award for feature writing in 2015 and the 2014 International Red Cross and Press Institute of India prize for humanitarian reporting. In 2015, she was one of only four nominees to be shortlisted for the prestigious ACJ Investigative Journalism Prize. She was also the recipient of the Robert Bosch media fellowship in Munich in 2017, an Asia Journalism Fellowship winner in Singapore in 2016, and a Chevening journalism fellow in London in 2015. MORE TO READ. This 2020 FilmCompanion piece by Sohini on female directors telling women’s stories: https://www.filmcompanion.in/features/bollywood-features/panga-and-chhapaak-what-happens-when-women-tell-womens-stories/ This FilmCompanion piece by Sohini on Bollywood’s portrayal of women in the year 2019: https://www.filmcompanion.in/features/bollywood-features/women-in-bollywood-in-2019-the-good-disappointing-and-ridiculous/ This 2019 LiveMint piece by Sohini about Bollywood and jobs: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/full-time-romantics-in-a-nation-of-job-seekers-1549567469480.html This 2018 LiveMint piece by Sohini looking at Bollywood’s depiction of women’s aspirations: https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/gW0RmkMUb27QUducQZaLIL/Why-dont-these-girls-work.html This 2017 LiveMint piece by Sohini, about professional identity and class/privilege in movies: https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/TcVedrnJxqu6b1ylDr6D0I/The-class-of-Kaira-Shyra-and-Shanaya-in-Bollywood.html This 2015 report titled ‘Cinema in Society: Shaping Our Worldview Beyond the Lens – Indian Films’: https://seejane.org/wp-content/uploads/cinema-and-society-investigation-of-the-impact-on-gender-representation-in-indian-films.pdf MORE TO WATCH. The Anupama Chopra interview with Sooraj Barjatya referenced in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_adyBoMeQA A BIG THANKS Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.