The Good Indian Girl

(Wow..today is some day for my blog..the third post of the day!)

Funny thing, have you ever noticed that in the first half of a Hindi movie, where the girl is rebellious/evil/stupid/not-in-love-with-the-hero/not-generally-depressed-in-life, she dresses fine- in a t-shirt and jeans, skirts etc.

Come second half- post-interval, her wardrobe undergoes an absolute shift. The poor depressed girl has been spurned in love and trying to get her lover back, or has turned over a new leaf and is no longer plotting to bump off the next member of the family, or has generally sobered down in life, and she starts wearing salwar-kameez. No, seriously, pay attention. The corrected woman, the sensible woman, the repentant woman, the victorious woman- always in an Indian outfit. Some examples I can think of off-hand are Kareena Kapoor in Jab We Met (after she gets dumped by the chap she wanted to marry in Manali, she's dressed in sober, pastel-shaded salwar-kameezes); Urmila Matondkar in Om Jai Jagdish (after she learns her lesson and becomes a good bahu); Preity Zinta in Kya Kehna (after the interval, when she is rejected by Saif and is fighting for her kid- and no, I don't think it has anything to with her being pregnant- hardly even shows in the first 3 months). These are a few I can think of right now. But believe me, it's the case in every single Hindi movie which has this kind of a story. Each and every one, without exception.

Talk about mind-set! It is sad to see that the sushil Indian woman is still defined in such rigid parameters, and a good Indian girl can only be really seen as one if she dresses right.