Women of Work in Indian Cinema

Dil Dhadakne Do is a movie where it shows both, the positives, and negatives of the work culture. In this, Ayesha who is born in the elite class of Delhi got forcefully married to a guy in Mumbai who belongs to the same class. The movie shows how difficult it is for Ayesha to work even when she belongs to a literate and educated family. It shows that it just does not take the education and literacy of people to open their minds and accepting the facts that women work and excel too. Their mentality does not let them accept the facts. In the beginning of the movie, when Ayesha is shown in her workplace and introduced using the name of her company which was listed in Forbes. It is an imbalance caused because the society believes in male dominance. It shows how Ayesha’s parents are not that happy with her success, but her brother believes in her and thinks she deserves more respect for her work than what she gets. On the other hand, Kabir finds a below the decks girl name Farah who is the lead dancer in the troupe. Farah tells that it was difficult for her to live her dream as a dancer as her family never supported her and she had to run away from home at a very young age. How she took different occupations like that of a bartender etc. and earned money to get herself enrolled in the dance school she wanted.

It shows how undivided the different groups of the society get when incomes to women working outside home. The society comes together to put barriers and does not allow them to flourish. 

Another movie that shows the dreams of a women is Ki and Ka. It is a movie about Kia, a highly motivated and career driven woman. She wants to live an independent and successful life and not accept the tradition of only men being the breadwinners. She comes across a guy, Kabir, who is the son of a successful business group but has no aspirations to join that company or join any company. He wishes to be the man who stays at home and do home chores. Kia finds Kabir perfect for herself as he does not want to enter the corporate world and it will let Kia work for her dreams. They start spending time with each and later get married. Kia’s career grows as she achieves a great promotion. Later, Kabir has to become a gym instructor to pay of some bills.

Kia mentions her modern marriages and gender inequality in an interview where the interviewer is impressed and requests a meeting with Kabir as well. Kabir says in the interview that it does not matter if the “Ki” takes up “Ka’s” job and vice versa. After a few interviews with Kabir and his gym work, Kabir starts getting busy and Kia does not get the attention she wants.

Kia changes her path after and moves to a different continent. When Kia comes back to India when her mom collapses, she finds out about another interview that Kabir takes and is frustrated again. But when she finds out the note that Jaya left for her, she realizes that she has been unfairly tough on Kabir and apologizes to him. Kabir’s father sees the spark in Kia to grow and thrive and decides to make her the CEO of his company. The movie in the end shows us the work and dedication Kia had towards her work that she did not let anyone come in her way. It also showed the supportive environment she was residing in and which is what a working woman expects for her own growth too in real life.