The unfortunate shelving of the movie ‘Heroine’ by Madhur Bhandarkar and the subsequent drama that has ensued has cemented my view that Bollywood is as misogynistic as I thought it was.
A pregnant woman is kicked out of a movie, the reason cited for that is the movie is heavily dependent on the lead actress, and she is required to be shown smoking, drinking etc, and the schedule is hectic. While it is true that pregnancy tires a woman out, it is not a disease or a condition. A pregnant woman gets as much work done as a non-pregnant one does. Also, the actress in question was not going to really smoke or drink anyway, shew as only going to act like she was, on-screen. And it is only the Indian directors that are doing this, Penelope Cruz was working on Prates of the Caribbean – 3 throughout her pregnancy, and no one kicked her out or blamed her for being pregnant. The worst part is that the said director of the movie actually blamed this actress and said he is shelving this movie for her own good and that this whole process has caused him a lot of anguish. Wah, talk about being dishonest.
Not only is it unfair to Aishwarya Rai that she is being discriminated on, she is also being blamed for the movie being canceled and the subsequent loss of jobs for hundreds of technicians, artists etc. When she signed on the movie she was given a schedule that stated that filming would be over by the end of July, which meant that she would be done with it by the time she was 5 months pregnant, and let’s face it, most women don’t even show the first 5-6 months. And while the first trimester brings with it glorious nausea and fatigue, surely there are ways to get to work in spite of that. We all have worked 8 hour days through out first trimesters, we weren’t kicked out of our jobs for being pregnant. And if Bhandarkar was so worried about Aishwarya’s health he would have made the movie but would have been extra careful about her, not just gone to the press saying she caused him anguish. Way to treat an expectant woman. If he was more worried that she would start putting on weight, and would not look the part, he should have come out and given that reason, rather than hide behind the “oh this is all for her good” wall like a coward.
While some might call her unprofessional, and I agree to an extent, it is not fair to expect a woman in her first trimester to go announcing to the whole world that she is having a baby, when most gynecologists and everyone else keeps warning her about an early miscarriage, throwing the high first trimester, first pregnancy miscarriage statistics in her face.
Finally, I feel like if the woman in question has no complaints about her working when pregnant, and when she is physically able to perform her duties, and look the part, in this case, there is no valid reason for kicking her out except that there is this huge reservation in the Indian psyche about the lack of desirability of a mother. While men can get married, have children, grow a paunch and still get roles as teenagers, women, God forbid so much as have a baby(while still looking smoking hot) are relegated to bit parts or bhabhi, ma roles. Way to kick her while she is down, Bollywood.
It is told that he got to know the news from the media when AB told in his twitter. Well we dont know the truth, but if indeed they didnt inform him , he would be furious . Because he is the employer and she the employee.and regarding we software ppl working well into the 9th month, I guess each industry is different and the glamour industry indeed may involve stress who knows.
BTW dont know what Aish thought about when she was 2 mnths into the pregnancy and y the silence ..
Agree they should have told the director personally than on twitter!
WE got a long way to go for equality and to get away with gender bias..
on other thoughts this has been blown out of proportion tooo a lot .. no one actually knows what has happened ..
We don’t know the details but clearly the pregnancy prompted some action, whereas ideally it should not have been a cause for concern at all!
I so agree with you! Now the film industry is thinking about having a clause in their agreement on Heroine not getting pregnant during the schedule. How absurd! How could she reveal that she is pregnant in first 3 months, knowing how media will make it a “breaking news!”.
A lot of times when in stress a woman doesnt even realize she is pregnant for the first few months coz she might thing the missed period is due to stress, or some women still get their ‘period’ when pregnant. What then? The clause is absurd!
“While some might call her unprofessional, and I agree to an extent,….”
What do you mean?
She should have atleast told the director about her pregnancy, in confidence. That probably would have made him feel like he wasn’t ‘out’ of the loop, or informed him personally rather than have FILL announce it on twitter.
Beautifully written, its sad that in this era also the discrimination towards a pregnant women is happening and this happens in all fields, I did manage my work and home well during my pregnancy, but people around me were always concerned and I hated it so much.
Oh yeah they behave like you are handicapped. We went to visit India when I was 20 weeks and I had to ask people to not treat me like I was afflicted.
Just my thinking. I was wondering if there really was no way other than shelving the movie? You are right that we have all been able to work through our pregnancies with some adjustments. Throught the 1st and 3rd trimesters. Then what was the big deal about Ash. And she was not complaining at all. In fact she wanted to complete her schedule in July before taking rest.
I was super disappointed indeed. Women have a long way to go in India
We do indeed. When I was working, most married women were discriminated against and not given ‘important’ projects because they could be ‘in the family way’ anytime.
wow- loved this post of yours and more so since am going through something similar- trying to readjust my life and my ..condition to fit into what is expected of a woman at this time. Thanks for the comment- I am fine now- need complete rest which I am trying to come to terms with. Love
Even with a completely event free pregnancy, the whole process takes a toll on a woman’s body. Add to that the effect of hormones. it should be illegal to discriminate against pregnant women and mothers.
I can understand your sentiments. Perhaps things here work differently from how they ideally shape themselves in our minds. I don’t think the actor in question here is to be blamed – and like you said, if she is fit enough to work and look the part, then shelving the film comes across as a strange decision. But then, I reserve further comment. There may have been intricacies we are unaware of.