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Laapataa Ladies is a deceptively simple, yet extremely thought-provoking satire couched in a simple story of exchanged brides. Image Source: IMdB This is the unfortunate story of countless ordinary women living under the veil, in the shadow of uncaring men. Who can't remember any details of their husband or the sasural they are married into. Who are trained only to obey their husband, do their duty in the kitchen, and follow orders of in-laws. Who don't have the liberty to study or do something for their own betterment. What can we expect for such women, except a lifetime of slavery? If the husband happens to be good, then there's some ray of hope. If he's a rascal, then God save her. Thanks to Kiran Rao for addressing the woes of 80% of Indian women living in nameless villages. And thanks for calling out the "greatest fraud" - the fraud of getting ready for marriage and domesticity. Where you can make the perfect kalakand, but you can't find your way...

The Hindi film industry or Bollywood - as it is called, doesn't have much of a reputation in making films that focus around women, leave alone tackle women's issues. That said, over the decades, some sensitive films have been made that tug the heart and shake your conscience. Few and far between, but these have made an impact. Strangely though, most have been made by very very sensitive male directors.  Image - Pixabay Compared to regional cinema, particularly Bengali and Malayalam film industries - that often have films made with the female gaze, Bollywood is mostly about males tackling feminist topics sensitively, albeit through the male gaze. Thankfully, that is changing and with the advent of talented lady directors like Gauri Shinde, Meghna Gulzar, Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, Konkona Sen Sharma, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Shonali Bose, the female gaze is gaining prominence slowly. Ahead of International Women's Day, I pick five commercial Bolly films that made an imprint on my...