Women’s Day 2025: Caught between bechari and b*tch, the question is to hustle or not

Interestingly, there is always a younger woman shown in contrast to their older, more successful counterpart, someone who becomes privy to their almost closeted dysfunction and thereby gets the option of deciding whether or not they want the same path.

Let’s look at an iconic film like The Devil Wears Prada. Andrea (Anne Hathaway) is a young, wide-eyed woman who becomes an assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), an extremely successful magazine editor who is both feared and respected within her organisation and in the fashion industry. Miranda is demanding and inconsiderate to the point of appearing like a sociopath. While she is the toast of the town at an event in Paris, behind the scenes, her marriage is falling apart. Andrea eventually walks away from the glamorous magazine job and finds employment at a more low-profile publication. Her boyfriend, who had a problem with her long hours, also hints at a reconciliation now that she will have a less hectic schedule. Interestingly, when Anne Hathway played the CEO of a startup in The Intern, her character almost takes a step back from leading the company when she discovers her husband has been having an affair. It takes a pep talk from her intern, played by Robert De Niro and an apology from her husband, who admits that being a house husband made him feel emasculated, to change her mind.

Jaya Bachchan in a still from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

Closer to home, I just couldn’t get over the one-dimensional nastiness of Jaya Bachchan’s character in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Dhanlakshmi Randhawa is the face of a successful mithai business, but in her personal life, there is nothing but bitterness and anger. As I watched the movie, I wondered why she couldn’t have been given a better backstory. How did a girl who was married into an orthodox home become a self-made millionaire? Did the challenges of doing things all alone make her hard-hearted and selfish? We will never know. Even OTT content, which we hoped would offer more progressive portrayals of women, has resorted to reinforcing this dichotomy on many occasions. Women are either young and ready to hustle like Dimple in Mismatched, Kavya in Little Things and Jaspreet in Made in Heaven, or older and dealing with the consequences of hustling. Whether it’s series like Fame Game, Bombay Begums, Human, Made in Heaven or movies like Shakuntala Devi, successful women always seem to have complicated personal relationships, troubled mental health and even brushes with crime.

Manisha Koirala plays Mallikajaan in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.

As I thought about it some more, I realised that this kind of characterisation has been around for a long time. Remember Chanda Madam, a high profile wedding planner and Shruti’s (Anushka Sharma) role model in Band Baajaa Baaraat? Soon after she starts working with Chanda, Shruti realises that Chanda has dubious business ethics. Or Harleen Bedi, the cunning factory owner in Sui Dhaaga, who tries to manipulate a young Mamta (Anushka Sharma)? From Dhankor Baa (Supriya Pathak) in Goliyon Ki Raas Leela -Ram Leela, Tabu in Andhadhun, Juhi Chawla in Gulaab Gang, Manisha Koirala in Heeramandi, to Shefali Shah as Neelam in Dil Dhadakne Do; there are multiple instances across genres, when women in power or women with wealth have been portrayed as either depressed, devious, or outright dangerous.

It’s strange because we ideally want to encourage women to aspire to positions of power. We would like women to be financially independent and capable of supporting themselves. In many ways, our cinema and digital content has taken steps towards that by portraying women as police officers, doctors, teachers, businesswomen, bankers, singers, dancers, and even gangsters. But by simultaneously judging them through a patriarchal lens of domestic prowess, we are implying that the price of success or ambition is failing at a woman’s more important responsibility, being a good mother and wife. It doesn’t help that women are also extremely critical of themselves and conditioned to believe that no matter what their other achievements are, the home remains their responsibility.

I am all for realistic portrayals of women juggling multiple responsibilities and dealing with the emotional ups and downs that come with it. But to portray women who have broken the glass ceiling or found a seat at the table as unhappy or unlikeable is a huge disservice to them. It undermines their hard work and the courage they showed in stepping beyond the real and metaphorical boundaries that were drawn for them.