The way women are portrayed in Hindi films is one thing that disturbs me the most when I watch them. The directors are not able to see them in a proper perspective. In fact, the pity is that they fail miserably even in attempting to show what constitutes a woman. In most of the romantic as well as epic stories, the scriptwriter makes the women characters speak certain dialogues that reveal them basically as people engaged in arousing male desire. We cannot make out what else they are as women. It looks as if what comes out of a woman's mouth is what a man wants to say. Yes, there is no doubt that the woman presented on the screen looks like a woman but she is unable to express the real thoughts of a woman. What is depicted is not truly a woman.

Why is this so? Why should an actress fail to portray a definite image? Whose fault is it? That of the actress? I don't think so. I blame the scriptwriter entirely. The language he uses go totally against women's nature; he makes women speak words which even a shameless prostitute will not utter. It is not as if the directors are not to be blamed. It is not only the dialogues, the facial expressions also matter. One does not know how to talk about this for often the face of the woman character reveals nothing; there is no expression at all.

I know why the directors and scriptwriters cannot portray women for what they are. They are, after all, men. They lack the keen insight of a poet or a writer. They are not capable of understanding the heart of a woman. Many of them are also young and inexperienced and therefore male brutality gets easily reflected even in female characters. Can't the film Bhartuhari be an example of this? Will not Heer Ranja bear out my statement? There are other examples apart from these two. But these two will suffice when we speak of the current films.

Pingla was Bhartuhari's queen at a time when our Arya bhoomi was at the height of its glory. Pingla may be adultrous or unfaithful or whatever, but how can such preposterous words ensue from her mouth?

The king has given me this fruit so that I remain immortal and satisfy his desire. But why? Why can't this fruit be given to a man who will satisfy my desire?"

Those who have a heart must know where to place such words. This is an insult to all womankind. Queen Pingla may be a lowly woman but can she utter such words? These words do not reveal a woman's heart but reflect the mentality of the film-maker. And that is the truth! It is male brutality that permeates the film. Indian women hardly see films. It is only when some mythological films come that they run to see them. And what do they see but such images of themselves?

What do we see in a film like Heer Ranja? An innocent rural girl tells a king in the very first meeting, "Oh king, my thirsty soul desires something which I see you have." Can a rural girl throw away her modesty so readily? Is it possible? She does not stop with this. This shameless woman goes and sits close to him with an expressionless face. What is the point of writing such meaningless dialogues? A woman who has never known love, can she utter such words without blushing or feeling shy when she takes a step in this direction? Don't you think a man has entered her body? And that man is not a simple person but a very crude one who can only speak such words. Can Heer - an Arya stree - speak such language? How can someone who is worshipped as a goddess even imagine this language?My comments have become too long but the point I would like to make is that film directors must now stop disgracing women. I also would like to state that not even a young woman who has grown up with freedom in the present period will be able to speak in one single breath the kind of dialogue of Heer! Perhaps the director will say in his defence that Heer and Ranja were unusual kind of lovers. That their love at first sight was a passionate one! So be it! But even in such love there should be a modicum of modesty. Even an eminent writer like Shakespeare who understood human psychology has not described love this way. Does being in love mean to cast away all sense of shame? How terrible! And how totally impossible!

The present article is to raise a voice against such portrayals. If we don't raise our voice film-makers will continue to portray women wrongly.

There is one more thing which I would like to mention -- inappropriate kissing scenes. As soon as the beloved meets the lover, they start kissing each other as if driven by somebody or as if they want to get rid of some heavy weight they are carrying. Such meaningless activities are not needed. Kisses are supposed to come from the heart and are not some mechanical acts!

I do not blame all directors here. There are many good directors who do not rely on such scenes for making their films successful. They take care about the dialogues and the storyline. Nek Abala, Subah ka Sitara are examples I can offer. I hope the directors use their intelligence and understanding of human psychology while making films.