Bollywood Feminism: Masaba Masaba & Darlings

I don't know what's going on over at Netflix India but they have been producing some incredible content featuring Indian women taking control of their lives and not letting men mess them about. One is a dark comedy about domestic violence, while the other is a breezy but heartfelt romp about a fashion designer and her actress mother. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Masaba Masaba: This show is so wonderfully peculiar because it is about the very real fashion designer, Masaba Gupta, and her actress mother, Neena Gupta. Both of whom are playing fictionalized versions of themselves. I find myself constantly perplexed as to whether it is all just a magnificent brand and marketing ploy (Season 2 is literally about Masaba's efforts to increase brand awareness), but this show is so insanely entertaining and colorful and magical that after a while, who cares? Just drink the Kool-Aid and enjoy everything that these women have to say about being women in the world of Mumbai fashion and film. 

Directed by Sonam Nair, this show is a refreshing and bracing look at modern Indian women who are trying to make a name for themselves without the help of any men. Yes, there are lots of messy romantic entanglements, and much soul-searching about how they can "have it all," but ultimately, this is a story where women are the driving force behind every decision and their happiness comes first. Masaba and Neena are clearly having a tremendous amount of fun playing messy versions of themselves (though who knows, maybe this fictionalized Netflix version is neater than the real thing!) and there's a lot of swearing and sleeping around, and a general fearlessness that we rarely get to see from women in Bollywood. 

However, let's not kid ourselves. These two women are extremely unconventional, and they have a lot of social advantages that give them a leg up already to act in this way. But they do a good job of examining all their privileges and showcasing their hard work and efforts to still grapple with big life goals. It's an incredibly funny but also sweet and endearing show, and it has a lot to say about women sticking together and supporting each other through the good times and bad. Plus, let's be real, this show really is a great ad for Masaba's designs - you will immediately want to go shopping once you've watched it.

Darlings: This movie stars Alia Bhatt as Badru, a woman who is being physically and verbally abused by her husband, Hamza (Vijay Varma). Theirs was a love marriage, but the man is a violent alcoholic, and Badru is caught up in a vicious cycle, where Hamza beats her for some inconsequential reason, then apologizes and professes his love and that he'll never do it again, she is desperate to believe that he will change and forgives him, and then he beats her again. Her mother, Shamshu (played by the incomparable Shefali Shah), keeps telling Badru to leave Hamza and come back home, warning her that he will never change. And then eventually, things escalate to a point that the two women have to join forces against Hamza and end the cycle.

I know it all sounds terribly grim, and yes, it can be hard to watch at times. But the direction by Jasmeet K. Reen, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Parveez Sheikh, offers a masterclass in how to play with tone. This is the darkest of dark comedies and you will still find yourself chuckling as you watch how things play out. Also, I do want to shout out that this movie features a twist towards the very end that I absolutely did NOT see coming, and it might be one of the most delightful surprises I've experienced in a Bollywood movie. So please watch this film just so we can squee about it together. 

Frankly, the only thing I needed to know about this movie in order to press Play was that it starred Alia Bhatt and Shefali Shah. This is Alia's first foray into producing a film, and if this is the kind of feminist cinema she is interested in, both in front of and behind the camera, I'm very excited for this next chapter in her Bollywood story. This script does a beautiful job of highlighting the difficulties that women face from society at large when they are suffering from abuse and the extreme steps that are often required to escape. The movie can't provide a true solution to the problem, but it shines a much-needed and welcome spotlight on the issue in a way that I hope will capture a broad audience and encourage more women to speak out if they need help. Also, unfortunately, this film could apply to women in any country on the planet; this is a tale as old as time, and you don't need to be a Bollywood fan to find it thoroughly relevant.