Critically analyse the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai from the popular segment of Hindi

cinema, incorporating a feminist perspective on any patriarchal structures depicted

within the storyline
Word limit- 2500
Date of submission- 12 th Nov

Media often acts as a mirror to society and manifests the ideas, beliefs and even
vices of society in its works.
Through various art forms - literature, music, plays and movies -
people tend to explore the socio-cultural
contexts in which they live. Sometimes, the media intentionally brings to light the
stereotypes and prejudices thriving in the society to talk ab out the wrong in
those practices. But many a times, these prejudices exist in movies without any
deliberate act to point out the wrong but to simply normalize them in films. Many
Bollywood movies, that appeal to the population at large, tend to have elements in
them that are outrageously sexist or undermine a certain community in the name of
entertainment. The Bollywood movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is no exception to this.
Being a highly grossing movie of its time, it is admired by fans of all age groups.
With time, we may have the notion that the larger masses have moved on and hence,
movies of today's maybe less stereotypical. But the impact of the present movie
taken into consideration here, weighs heavily on the psyche of the masses. It is
still celebrated as one of best Bollywood romantic movies (e.g. IMDB list of 50
best romantic movies of all time, book my show list of 14 movies to watch, Reel
Rundown list of 50 great Hindi romantic movies); it is identified as one of the
five essential Bollywood movies to Netflix [22], one of the 50 films that changed
Bollywood [7], and its 20th year anniversary was celebrated by the director Karan
Johar and the members who were part of the movie in 2018.

But there are indications of stereotypical representations along with several

outdated ideas being propagated in the movie.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is about a love triangle between a highly charismatic and
popular Rahul, his best friend, Anjali and another girl who they meet during their
college life - Tina. While Rahul is infatuated with Tina, Anjali has feelings for
Rahul. This complicated scenario leads to Anjali's heartbreak and Rahul ends up
marrying Tina. But the story reveals in the beginning of the movie only that Tina
is no longer alive and Rahul is a single parent to their daughter, Anjali. Rahul's
daughter gets to know about her father's best friend Anjali through the letters her
mother wrote for her and eventually, she decides to fulfil her mother's wish to
unite Rahul and Anjali. This is the basic outline of the movie. But instead of
examining the plot of the movie as a whole, we will dwell into specific themes and
sub-the mes in the movie.

once Rahul encounters Tina outside a temple (breaking a stereotype that young boys
do not visit temples or are not religious) and says that 'A man's head is bowed to
only three women - his mother, Goddess Durga and...' He doe not complete the
sentence but it's obvious he meant '...and wife (or lover)'. Using these three
figures in the same sentence, he is resonating with the idea of the Mother
archetype and its significance in the life of a man. In addition, this endorses the
idolising of women to the level of a goddess. Thusly, for Tina to become a suitable
wife, she needs to be devout, of virtue, and have sound knowledge of tradition and
culture, as per the idealisation of the men in the culture, or the religious
attitude of the man. Else, she remains the basic woman Eve, who will forever be the
lover, but never a wife. Hence, the duality of woman in the movie- the
representation of the lover Eve (Tina with her western dress), and the deity that
is Mother Mary (Tina in the temple which was the defining moment when Rahul decides
she could be his wife; and Anjali in the later part of the movie when she becomes
the embodiment of what it is to be a woman: long hair, wears sari, smiles shyly,
and possesses a heart that is ready to sacrifice for the betterment of others).
As we discusses before , what emerged to be a a cult film for youngsters, KKHH
(1998), Rahul (Shahrukh Khan) is a flirtatious young guy who though does not mind
flirting with girls, would however want to take only a homely girl in front of his
mother, for marriage. While it is completely alright for him to flirt, he has very
clear ideas about whom he wants to marry and that the girl should be simple. His
best friend Anjali (Kajol) who is a tomboy falls for him and makes every effort to
woo him by turning herself to be girlish. Under the veils of opulence, wealth,
gloss, glamour and larger than life sets, all these films did were to reinforce
patriarchy. These films also set different codes of conduct for men and women. So
while Rahul in the beginning of the film believes that love and marriage can happen
only once, he ends up marrying twice! This is not for the woman who has to stick to
one partner.
From the beginning, Anjali is portrayed as a "tomboy" who exudes masculine energy
and lacks feminine charms. Dressed in sporty and boyish clothes (often comprising
of denim overalls or a tracksuit with a baseball cap) Anjali has straight black
hair that is chopped into a short bob she keeps away from her face with a headband.
Tina, on the other hand, is extremely feminine in terms of what she wears and the
way she carries herself. She predominantly - and until her marriage to Rahul -
dresses in short skirts with matching crop tops, heels and jewelry, and walks with
a slight sway of her hips, as is often captured by the slow-motion medium shots
focused on her retreating back. Adding to her feminine beauty is her untied
shoulder-length black straight hair that Tina is often shown twirling around her
finger.
Although the beauty of long black straight hair is not referred to explicitly in
the film, it is implied in several instances where Anjali is ridiculed for acting
and appearing too boyish, a trait in which her short hair plays a central role.
Eight years after the college flashback, when Rahul describes to his daughter how
Anjali was "just like the boys" (Johar, 1998, 1:33:46) we get interspersed shots of
a feminine Indian woman dressing up. Each time Rahul completes a sentence
describing Anjali's masculine ways, the shot switches to symbols associated with
Indian femininity like bangles, kohl and a sari. When the sequence of interspersed
shots finally reveals the woman dressing up to be a transformed Anjali, we see her
looking extremely
feminine and in sharp contrast to how "unfeminine" she used to be. Anjali's
newfound femininity, and therefore beauty, is not just on account of the feminized
clothes, makeup and jewelry she wears. The most major contribution towards Anjali's
feminization is the remarkable difference in the length of her hair which,
previously a boyish bob, has now grown thick, long, black and straight. As the plot
progresses, Rahul is shown falling in love with this feminine long-haired version
of Anjali whose femininity and beauty are often represented through her long

black hair blowing in the wind as music swells in the background, a quintessential
scene in Bollywood romance movies that, to be successful, requires that the heroine
possesses long black tresses. In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), this staple Bollywood
scene occurs just as the initial tunes of a slow romantic song fade in and start
playing in the background (Johar, 1998, 2:20:14).
We see that Anjali, clad in a black lace sari, is standing atop a boat as the
camera pans her entire body in a long shot. Her hair is blowing in the wind, and it
continues to do so in the series of close-up shots of her face that follow as they
show her longingly singing about her love.

in Indian Cinema and concluded that they don't always show girls in western dress
as sluts, but the sluts invariably wear western clothes. If a main actress
(heroine) wears mini skirt, she mostly has to prove her Indianness. In Kuch Kuch
Hota Hai Rani Mukherjee, a girl returned from London in a mini dress sang a
devotional Hindi song to prove her Indianness.
In one more instance ,the manner in which the camera
focuses on the body of newcomer Tina is explicitly
demeaning for the female spectators. There is no
logic in a woman who returns from abroad being
dressed with such minimal clothing. This
representation of women is becoming a norm in
films of the new millennium. Even though women
spectators 'cringe' when witnessing this portrayal
of their gender, representations of women in this
sordid manner are increasing and viewers are being
allowed to use the cinematic space an acceptable
space in which to "gawk'. If one is to examine the
changes in the construction of women characters
from the voyeuristic perspective, then it is evident
that there is still a strong reliance on the aspect of
pleasing male viewers.
Women characters should possess agency to dismantle the existing power structures
as well as be able to negotiate their own position within this structure. It is
time that cinema seeks a redefinition of women as objects of male gaze. Women's
experiences and dilemmas
as points of narration are the need of the hour. Going beyond the stereotypes will
do a great help to the cause of women in Indian society. Cinema has to create a
separate and independent space for Indian women to help them realise their dreams.
Cinema's only end is not to entertain. It must begin a quest for social change
through entertainment. As a media product, identified to accelerate the process of
modernity, cinema should not stick to the 'formula film"; it should come up with
more progressive representations of women. Such portrayals would do justice to
women and their role in the society.
It is difficult to come to a uniform conclusion on the portrayal of celluloid
women. Considering the fact that women in India are not a homogenous group - they
belong to different religions, castes, class, socio-economic status and have
different kinds of ambitions and desires as a result of which they lead different
lives, it is improper to conclude that women on Indian silver screen have been
portrayed in an identical manner. The portrayal of course has to be sensitive to
the category to which they belong. For eg: An urban middle class woman's story
would be entirely different from that of a woman in a village. Films, thus have to
be responsive towards the context in which they locate women characters.
ndian- Hindi Cinema plays a significant role in constructing the image of women in
today's India.
Women's participation, performance and portrayal in Hindi cinema are the three
important dimensions of study of today's.
In conclusion, it will find whether mainstream Hindi cinema has been successful in
portraying Indian women in different shades in a society dominated by patriarchal
values. Improving the status of women, in every aspect, is regarded as the only way
to eradicate this gender gap and achieving a better quality of life for the women.