Women’s Equality Day: Most inspiring female characters in Bengali cinema

Gender inequality has always been an issue in every sphere of life. Though women-centric films became a trend not very long ago, there have been some extremely strong female characters Bengali cinema has produced from time to time. On Women's Equality Day today, it only seems right that we’d give a shout-out to those characters that have inspired us...


In Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara, we see Neeta as a self-sacrificing young woman, who is repeatedly struck by personal tragedies. Her cry of frustration and helplessness, ‘Dada, I want to live’ reverberates through the film and Supriya Devi’s powerful performance remain etched in our hearts forever.


Satyajit Ray's female characters were never secondary to men. Charulata is a story of a bored, lonely housewife, Charu, brilliantly played by Madhabi Mukherjee. She is often ignored and neglected by her husband. The film also depicts how the arrival of her husband’s cousin awakens new feelings in her. The film focuses on the dilemma faced by Charulata, her emotional turmoil sparked by feelings of dissatisfaction in marriage and confusions in relationships. Charulata's character, by and large, went on to become Madhabi's second identity in the days to come.


Aparna Sen`s Paromitar Ek Din focuses on a day in the life of Paromita, played by Rituparna Sengupta. It is the day of the shraddha ceremony of Paromita's mother-in-law, Shanoka, played by Aparna herself. We get to know of Paromita`s life in flashbacks. Rituparna as Paromita essays her role with as much conviction and authority as has seldom been seen on the Bengali screen in the longest time.


Directed by Prabhat Roy, the film revolves around a widow, Bandana. The story highlights the changing mindset in society. Aparna as Bandana pulls off one of the best performances in her career. The film shows how difficult it is to bring about change and end the plight of women. The way Bandana fights with her inner self and finally finds the courage to speak up is really inspiring.


Bishorjan is a 2017 Bengali film directed by Kaushik Ganguly, starring Jaya Ahsan in one of the lead roles. Jaya plays a Hindu widow, Padma, from Bangladesh, who is the love interest ofNasir, a Muslim man from India, played by Abir Chatterjee. Set around the Ichhamoti river on the Indo-Bangladesh border, the film sees Jaya delivering one of the best performance of her career. Remember Padma's bidi-smoking scene? It shows a dark and twisted turn her character has taken from being a docile young bride.


In Raj Chakraborty's romance-mystery-drama, Subhasree is seen playing a class XII student, Mehul, who falls for her teacher Babaida. The character touched a chord with the audience instantly as many of them could relate to Mehul's journey. The characters has plenty of shades and Subhasree pulled each of them with elan.


Aparna Sen’s Parama tries to explore female sexuality through her eponymous protagonist, played by Rakhee. Parama is a conventional middle-aged housewife, whio is always busy delivering her duties of a mother, wife, daughter-in-law in a big joint family. She is the care giver for every member in the family. One day, photo-journalist working for a magazine chooses her to pose for a photo essay, "An Indian Housewife".He senses the confines she lives in and tries to bring out the soul beyond her beautiful face. Parama finds a new lease of life in an extramarital affair. Paroma is rejected by her husband and has a mental breakdown. But she overcomes it, realises her worth and decides to live on her own terms thereafter.


The best should always be reserved for the last. Regarded as one of the finest Bengali films from the 1950s, Deep Jele Jai is a landmark film in Suchitra Sen’s acting career.It is an extremely sensitive and touching drama focusing on the heroine, Radha, who is a nurse at a psychiatric clinic in Kolkata. She has just suffered a major heartbreak after treating a patient, Debasish, who after getting well, is grateful to Radha but leaves her to marry his fiance. After a few years, she finds herself stuck in a similar situation and she loses her sanity. Suchitra Sen is pure dynamite in the film. Her silence speaks volumes.