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"Stree ka charitra aur purush ka bhagya devta bhi nahi bata sakte"

- A quote from Mahabharata spoken in Roy's Bandini

Bimal Roy

Bimal Roy was one of the most celebrated filmmakers of Indian cinema. He produced and directed some of the best films of the '50s and the '60s, which are now held as classics. He won several National Awards and Filmfare Awards for his films and received international acclaim as well.

It is interesting that some of his best films were about women. Biraj Bahu, Bandini, and Sujata are most notable in this context. He recognized the highly vulnerable position of women in Indian society, how she has to suffer just for being a woman, how her whole world can fall apart if she fails to meet even the slightest social expectation and these issues became the main focus of his films. This blog is all about the portrayal of women in his films.

Women certainly weren't merely showpieces in his films, as was and is the case in most Indian films. In fact, their place was always equal to or more important than men. Women were the heroes and society the villain. Even in the films which were not directly about women's issues, like Devdas and Madhumati, women had pivotal roles to play and it is evident that a lot of thought has been put into their portrayal.

Paro in Devdas

The root cause of women's unfortunate position in Indian society is its religious foundation. Social norms set by the Brahmins in the Vedic period stripped women of several fundamental rights and  bound them to highly unjust rules and regulations which led to their systematic suppression through the ages.

The great irony of our culture is that we worship God as a woman, but we have put actual women in service of men. For knowledge, power, and wealth, we pray to the Goddess (Saraswati, Durga, Lakshmi), but the women in actual flesh and blood are prohibited from education and vocation. Their role is limited to the household and they must spend their life serving and pleasing men.

Consequently, all the women in Roy's films are falling on the feet of their men, aspiring for their "charano ki dhul", and giving expression to their love by being subservient to them. Even his most headstrong women - Sujata and Kalyani don't fail to fall on the feet of their men. Perhaps, Roy showed this as a mirror to society and not to support this tradition. But I cant help but wonder if he ever considered making a direct comment about its unfairness.

Kalyani in Bandini

The thing is that Roy's women seldom transgressed social boundaries and expectations. It was within these confines that they made some very interesting choices, some times very bold choices, and that's what Roy has tried to portray
and that's what makes his women memorable.

As for religion, Roy was not against Vedic religion or spirituality as is evident from his films. He understood that Brahmin dharma was not the entirety of Vedic religion but only it's misuse by the Brahmins. The core of Vedic teaching is the oneness of all beings. Therefore, his treatment of religion is very nuanced. He brings out its ills and evils (for instance, untouchability in Sujata) but never dismisses religion altogether. There is always the element of Vaishnava bhakti in his films, which represents the pure spiritual ideas of the ancient tradition.

PS: I wonder if the female actors were paid equal to their male counterparts in his productions. I really hope they were.