Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

A distinctive
feature of social and
cultural life at CMC

 

Women in India: A ‘Progressive’ View from Bollywood—Screening and Discussion of QUEEN

Thu, October 11, 2018
Dinner Program
Nita Kumar, moderator

QUEEN, directed by Vikas Bahl, is a commentary on the mores of Indian middle-class families who assume that girls will be shy, get married, be happy ever after. That is until the marriage part falls apart. While awarded and loved by critics and audience alike, some scholars read this movie as a comment on the continuous restrictive—and for feminists, frustrating— appropriation of the public sphere in South Asia as unavoidably masculine. Moreover, they find it lamentable that the protagonist Rani has to go to Europe to find herself after her almost marriage.

A much-awarded Hindi movie of 2014 including best story, actress, script, editing, in National and Filmfare awards, QUEEN is the story about an ordinary girl from New Delhi who, left by her fiancé on the eve of her wedding, decides to console herself by going alone on their planned honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam. Then we, the audience, gets instruction on how to imagine her future. She holds her own with interesting people and learns a lesson at every step. A familiar-seeming story of the girl-next-door, Rani, played by Kangna Ranaut, charms and entertains in unexpected ways while understating the most important message possible, “Be yourself.” 

Movie screening will begin promptly at 5:30 pm.

(Freeberg Dining Room)

Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

Claremont McKenna College
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