Imperfect Images

The increased representation of women leaders in Bollywood is a heartening first step, but we await their more complex avatars

- Tanul Thakur

WHEN Rani Bharti (Huma Qureshi), the protagonist of the web series Maharani (2021), finds out that she’s become the Chief Minister of Bihar, she’s so confused, so overwhelmed, that she almost breaks into tears. About to serve tea to her husband—the ex-chief minister, surviving an assassination attempt, too frail to function—Rani, an unlettered homemaker, has become a reluctant leader. In the next scene, the Governor, while talking to his wife, calls her a ‘‘rubber stamp—a goongi gudiya’’.

This reference to Indira Gandhi, who was given the pejorative epithet by the opposition, frames a woman as a puppet in politics, a male-dominated arena. Responding to women politicians’ miniscule presence, Bollywood remained indifferent to them for decades. But as they increased in number, so did their on-screen portrayals. Over the last few years, though, they’ve exploded in Hindi films and web series, compelling us to consider the interpretations of female political power in Hindi dramas.

The ‘goongi gudiya’ comment—or a naïve woman entering politics—isn’t just a throwaway line; it’s almost a trope. Besides Maharani, Dasvi (2022) and Panchayat (2020) feature apolitical women who acquire (or remain in) power with their husbands’ help. In the former, Bimla (Nimrat Kaur) shares Rani’s trajectory (her chief minister husband, played by Abhishek Bachchan, is also not ‘fit’ to run for the office—his scam gets him jailed). Manju (Neena Gupta) is a nominal sarpanch in