By: Kinjal Joshi

“AGAR KOI ALAG TARAH JEENA CHAHTA HAI, TOH USSE JEENE DO

HAR DIL APNI TARAH DHADAKTA HAI, HAR DIL DHADAKNE DO…”

• Overview:

     There are a lot of movies which show us the exact way of how women are treated in Indian society. One of which is Dil Dhadakne Do. The movie was directed by Zoya Akhtar and released in 2015. The movie shows the reality of Indian families. It also portrays the gender issues faced by the women of India before and after marriage. 

     Dil Dhadakne Do is one of the Indian movies which can be called as an eye opener for narrow minded people in India. The movie starred the Mehra family; Kamal Mehra, Neelam Mehra, Ayesha Mehra and Kabir Mehra. Movie also has a star character, Sunny Gill. Movie portrays a rich and stereotyped Indian family who are celebrating on a cruise with friends and family. 

• The Forceful Marriage:

     In the movie, Ayesha Mehra is daughter of the Mehra’s and is married to business tycoon Manav Sangha. Ayesha’s father married his daughter without her wish because she was in love with Sunny who was manager’s son of the company Kamal Mehra owned. So, Kamal Mehra sent Sunny abroad to study and stay away from his daughter. The issue here is about the independent choice of a female. If a female is born in Indian family, she will have to learn how to cook, study and get married to the guy her family chooses. The same happened with Ayesha. Her father didn’t want the family name to get spoiled and it would’ve been so if Ayesha married a manager’s son because she belonged to a rich class family. So, she was forced to marry a guy who was rich and successful of her father’s choosing. In India people have established faith that the family chooses the right guy and females have no right in choosing her life partner.

• Lack Of Support:

     Ayesha had sold her jewelry and started her own company after marriage because she was an ambitious woman and had goals. This shows us how hard it is for a woman in India to pursue her dreams. The focus in this matter is that no one from her own family supported her or helped her financially to start a business because it was not expected of her. As being an ideal Indian daughter-in-law she was supposed to look after the husband’s family and the household. Manav’s mother taunts Ayesha all the time about not staying at home and constantly working in the office. This is what actually happens in India. If you’re not physically tortured, you’re mentally harassed by the people around you and the family you live with for not living up to their expectations. Ayesha had the right mind for business and was capable enough but neither her family supported her nor her husband. She established her own company and made her company one of the best companies in Mumbai. The power women hold when they have goals can do wonders in the world.

• Inequality Between The Siblings:

     On the other side Kabir Mehra, son of the Mehra’s who is not so capable of handling the business was given responsibility of the whole company. This is noteworthy because the daughter who is far more capable than the son, is not given an opportunity to prove herself in her own company. But the son who is not even interested in the company, is offered the same on a silver platter because daughters are not considered as a member of the family she was brought up in after marriage. Why are daughters supposed to leave their own house after marriage? Why is she not included in the matters of her own family she grew up in? Indian rituals are cruel and separates a daughter from her parents and a sister from her brother. She has to leave all her bonds behind just to live with a complete stranger she doesn’t even know who is chosen by her own family. The answers to the above questions carry so much weight that drowns all the females who ask them.

• Authority Of The Husband:

     Another noteworthy instance is when all the adults are sitting in the bar and Sunny started a discussion that women in our country are not safe and are not treated equally. Manav opposed and said changes are done slowly. Further Manav argues that no women in his family has ever worked in office but then he allowed Ayesha to work. So Sunny explains that when you give Permission to someone, you are putting yourself in a position of authority which is not called being equal. Sunny also says that why does Ayesha need to take permission from her husband to work? She is an independent woman and if her husband didn’t take permission from her to work, she shouldn’t too. This scene has a huge impact and all the females who have seen the movie must have felt a great deal of pain. Indian women are bound to the kitchen and the household works. They don’t get time for themselves. And when females gather courage to pursue their own goals and fights for equality, society clips their wings and drags them down so they can’t fly. What a shame! 

• The Divorce Taboo:

     Last but not the least issue is about the divorce Ayesha wanted to give to her husband. She wasn’t happy in the marriage because she wasn’t in love with her husband. And when she finally gathered courage to get a divorce after a long time, her own family denied. Her own mother was against it as divorce is considered a taboo in Indian society. Her father pressured her to stay in the marriage even after knowing that she was unhappy because he thought about what society will think about her. Kamal Mehra even threatened her own daughter that if she gets a divorce she can’t come back to her father’s house because that wasn’t hers anymore. How pathetic Indian parents can be! They are ready to make their daughter suffer her whole life but they won’t support the daughter who wants to achieve something, who needs support. 

• Farah And Noorie:

     Farah is the love interest with Kabir Mehra in the movie. She is a dancer on the cruise. She wanted to be a dancer and her family was very conservative and didn’t have money for the professional training. So Farah took her bag and left her home and worked hard. She was a bartender for some time then she worked at other places and gathered money for her dancing fees. Finally she went to dance school and fulfilled her dream alone all by herself. Kabir called her FEARLESS FARAH which I think suits her perfectly. Farah’s journey shows us that it might be difficult, the journey; but it is worth all the pain.

     On the other side Noorie was daughter of a successful businessman Lalit Sood. Noorie was engaged to another guy but he left her and a lot of people talked about her family. On the cruise she fell in love with his father’s rival’s son Rana Khanna. Noorie and Rana were instructed to stay away from each other because their families didn’t like each other. So, they met secretly in a way that nobody can know. This shows the dilemma of Noorie that she has to hide her real feelings from everyone because her family didn’t like the guy’s family. Most of the time this thing happens with females in India. They are not allowed to marry the guy of their choice. But still Noorie fought the odds and didn’t leave Rana’s side. She tried to save her love.

     Thus, the point is proved that Indian women are tied up in chains. They need to ask for every single thing they want to do and have absolutely no authority in the house which is the complete opposite of treating equally. Women are powerful enough to rule a country so they are powerful enough to rule their own lives! Freedom is not enough for females in our country. Support and love is also needed. The same support and love that sons are receiving should also be given to daughters so that they can pursue their dreams and goals!