When Bollywood beauties take to onscreen politics

Subhash K Jha / TNN / Feb 10, 2003, 11:10 IST

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MUMBAI: The positive response to Raveena Tandon's performance as an ambitious politician in Satta has rekindled interest in the small but influential cult of women politicians on celluloid.

When Bollywood beauties take to onscreen politics

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: Madhur Bhandarkar''s hard-hitting Satta features Raveena Tandon as a reluctant politician who gradually comes into her own as a political animal. And the reactions to her performance have been extraordinarily positive. "I was a little scared about how audiences would react to my character''s wheeling dealing in the game of politics.They''re used to seeing men in aggressive, ambitious roles, not women," said Raveena. Some critics have even commented on the overt aggression of the character. "Yes, my character Anuradha Chauhan is angry and she expresses it openly. She isn''t a victim like Tabu in Madhur Bhandakar''s Chandni Bar. My character could easily have become un-likeable, if not negative. Fortunately audiences are no longer ultra conservative. There''s room at the top for women." Raveena isn''t the first actress to play a politician who takes to the game of political manoeuvring like a fish to water. Almost three decades ago, Gulzar convinced the legendary and elusive Bengali beauty Suchitra Sen to come out of retirement to play a woman who sacrifices her marriage and family life for her political ambition in Aandhi. The character was found to have too many similarities to Mrs Indira Gandhi''s life and career. Aandhi was banned by the then Congress government. Madhur Bhandarkar, who''s flooded with praise for Satta, said, "The biggest compliment that I''ve got for Satta is that I''ve gone further than Aandhi in portraying my politician heroine." In fact, the ruling regime has always been sensitive to how women politicians are portrayed in films. Years ago the censor board had objected to Dev Anand''s leading lady Zaheeda being named Indu in Gambler. Many years later, Gulzar returned to the world of feminine statesmanship in Hu Tu Tu where Suhasini Mulay portrayed a small-town politician who neglects her husband (Shivaji Satam) and daughter (Tabu) and even establishes an illicit relationship with a powerful politician to further her political ambitions. But the most unforgettable portrayal of a woman politician was by Shabana Azmi in Vinay Shukla''s Godmother. Starting as a simple devoted rural housewife in Gujarat, Shabana charted the character''s rise into a brutally power-hungry politician with a candour and straightforwardness that ripped the screen apart. The performance fetched Shabana a well-deserved national award. Five years ago actress Rohini Hattangadi had played a ruthlessly ambitious politician in a television serial Mahayagya, which became enormously popular. The positive response to Raveena''s latest performance has rekindled interest in the small but influential cult of women politicians on celluloid. Kalpana Lajmi, who has been toying with the idea of making a film Singhasan on the rise of two women in politics, wants to cast Aishwarya Rai and Urmila Matondkar in the two leading roles. If Satta succeeds, a whole new genre of films could open up for Hindi cinema.</div> </div>

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