Why Bombay Begums Doesn't Work For Me - A Critique

It had all the elements of a trailblazer. That the Alankrita Srivastava written and helmed - Bombay Begums (streaming now on Netflix) is an extremely topical, riveting and entertaining watch, is without doubt.

Steered by powerful performances from the lead actors - Pooja Bhatt, Shahana Goswami, Amruta Subhash and Plabita Borthakur, it stirs up strong sentiments by focusing an unapologetic lens on some very pertinent “women’s” issues like menopause, the right to dignity for sex workers, sexual harassment at work, bisexuality, body positivity, women’s right to make choices etc.

Then why doesn’t it strike a chord in me? Why don’t I rise in pulsating excitement and thump my fist saying, “Yes, this is it!”? Why am I left feeling hollow?

Because it sacrifices one stereotype for another.

The series has successful dynamic women leading from the front, while keeping their own insecurities firmly in check, but who strangely can’t hold their own in front of lovers/partners. Granted, the director wanted to project flawed women, but flawed doesn’t have to translate into weak, flaky characters.

The Women of Bombay Begums

Let’s take the main roles.

Shahana’s Fatima is such a strong headed, intelligent and dynamic career woman, yet she feels compelled to embrace maternity only to please her husband. It’s not her own choice, mind you, yet when she miscarries, she holds herself responsible! Even after she and her husband decide to go for surrogacy (again her idea), she not only loses all interest in the entire process, but also starts detesting her too-supportive, genial husband. She starts resenting her marriage itself, which till now was rock-solid. And to top it all, in a bid to revive her fast losing self-confidence, or perhaps to feel more positive about her body (don’t know which), she jumps into bed with the next available, suitably lusting firangi! Why? Just to give her ego a kick? Or because women finally need to depend on the male gaze to validate their own worth?

Image Courtesy: Google

Let’s come to the Queen Bee or Bhatt’s Rani. A power-puff woman with steely grit otherwise, she keeps yearning for validation - from her lover, from her step-children, from her husband. She navigates tricky corporate deals dubiously, sleeps with the rival bank’s chairman, and generally behaves like the boss, only to bend backwards to cater to her insolent step-children. What’s particularly jarring, she does Karva Chauth religiously to please her husband and prove herself the ideal Indian wife! And yet, she willingly gives in to blackmailing and cheating, all the time denying her body’s pre-menopausal spells. Her behaviour towards her colleagues and the other women in the show is disparaging to say the least.

And what to say about Borthakur’s fickle Ayesha, who seems to literally sway with the flow? Denying her bisexuality, she cheats on her flatmate, sleeps with her ex-boyfriend, and cozies up with sundry people, regardless of equation. She feels cheated by her girlfriend, so she has revenge sex with a supportive flat-mate, no feelings involved! By the time there is something that rouses her dormant self-esteem (a sexual assault by a senior in the bank), we have lost all interest in her comings and goings. No one knows why she does what she does. To prove herself as an independent career woman? To defy her parents and small-town upbringing? To find her own place under the sun? We aren’t sure.

Amruta Subhash’s Lily – a bar dancer turned prostitute, seems to be the only woman with some iota of self-respect. Fighting tooth and nail for her place under the sun, she gives it back good and proper to her tormentors. But wait, even she needs rescuing - by her paramour who promises to sweep her to some distant world!

And finally, we come to Shai, the pre-pubescent girl yearning for acceptance amongst her peers, and desperately trying to look “full-bodied.” She is downright bratty and rude to her sympathetic step-mom, insulting her throughout. With snootiness and attitude to match, she does drugs, smoking, and faking menstrual stains - just to be cool! Openly antagonistic to Rani, it’s only in the final episode that she bonds with her, after learning about the latter’s sexual exploitation history.

Lacking Depth?

So, here’s my gripe.

Why are these women shown as such weak, escapist, validation-seeking entities? What happened to the good old traits of self-assurance, confidence and conviction? Do femme fatales have to become morally weak, easily bull-dozed characters, ready to sacrifice their integrity at the slightest opportunity? What point are they trying to prove? And lastly, why does forward-thinking translate to chain smoking/drinking/sleeping around?

Yes, we want flawed characters, but not such feeble ones. These gals seem to be constantly fighting their own demons by paradoxically bringing down each other! And by getting into the shadiest deals!

Give us good old strong-headed protagonists who use their brains, not bodies, any day!    

This is not to say the show doesn’t have its redeeming features. The young corporate trainee (Ayesha) sticking to her stand in the sexual harassment case- in the face of public shaming, is one such bright spot. She also develops empathy towards the sex-worker on the way, realizing that in the end they were similar in many ways. Another saving grace would be the united stand the ladies finally decide to take against the office predator, and the bullying corporator guy. And so is the quiet sisterhood that forms between the women, translating into acceptance and celebration of their o wn and each other’s flaws.

But that is too little, too late. By then, you are literally exhausted by the lying, scheming, back-stabbing, bitching and cribbing. I was really looking forward to something substantially different from the brain-numbing saas-bahu soaps depicting kitchen politics, with sundry vamps and miss-goody-two-shoes.

Sadly, I got nothing to chew on after watching this much-awaited series. Though the last episode is a face-saver, a lot is missing in between.

Alankrita, yeh dil maange more substance!

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