Women's Study Centre, JMC

by Vanshika Chaudhary Shelly Chopra Dhar’s Ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga , written by Gazal Dhaliwal, is a traditional Bollywood rom-com with conventional characters, stereotypical humour, predictable chaos, and an anticipated happy ending, for its first half. The “progressive” part of the film only comes to light after half the film is over- Sahil finally learns the truth about Sweety. The audience witnesses an unanticipated movement from “normalcy” to non-normativity. An unconventional “siyappa” ensues, only to be “resolved” by some dramatic dialogues that are to be taken by the heart and not the mind. With Cassandra comes the “happy ending”- literally, it is by the ending minutes of the movie that we see any significant display of affection by the two women. Even though the film moves away from Bollywood’s bizarre depiction of queer characters, it does not really go anywhere in its proclaimed progressiveness- it is so restricted in its assertion that it defeats its own purpose. ...

   Film Review SHAKUNTALA DEVI A Wrestle between Mathematics and Motherhood   “Jab amazing ho sakti hu, to normal kyu banu.” By Varsha Varghese   Anu Menon’s OTT released biopic ‘Shakuntala Devi’ is a lively,  buoyant  and tear-jerking portrayal of the math wizard who always went beyond the lines that society drew for her. Undoubtedly Vidya Balan perfectly portrayed Devi with her thunderous laugh, spontaneous wit and humour-filled killer looks. The  film seems to take an exaggerated tone leaving no room for boredom to sweep in. The movie is split among three facets of  Ms. Devi’s life. The first  one deals with her childhood, where we get glimpse view of her poor brahmin family and her mathematical skills are used for monetary gains by her father. Despite all this the family  could not  save Devi’s ailing sister with medical care and finally she succumbs to death.  This leads her to develop a strong resentment to her family and...

Film Review CHHAPAK By Salonii Khemani Released on 10th January 2020, Chapak had announced 2020 as a good year for Bollywood, to say the least. Starring Deepika Padukone, Vikrant Massey, and Madhurjeet Sarghi and directed by Meghna Gulzar, the movie focuses on a very fragile issue that is faced by women in a society that is deeply intertwined with patriarchy. It’s a movie that talks about the gory details of a heinous crime, and a story that needs to be heard by everyone. The fact that the movie is based on a real-life incident is not a surprise. The movie revolves around the real-life story of Laxmi Agarwal, an acid attack survivor, who was attacked when she was only 15 years old. The movie unwraps with a girl, casually singing and dancing to Sonu Nigam’s Kal Ho Na Ho inside a servant quarter of a posh Delhi house, unaware and uncertain of what the ‘Kal’ holds for her. Malti, played by Padukone, falls on the street out of nowhere, screaming and shouting. As she cries with unbearable p...

  Film Review THAPPAD By Divjot Kaur Thappad (2020) is a thought provoking, genuine reflection of our society. Its meticulous screenplay has been brilliantly portrayed, captured by the nuances and the underlying yet bold declarations in Anubhav Sinha’s direction and Tapassee Punnu’s commendable acting. The movie’s premise revolves around the seemingly ‘normal’ life of Amrita and Varun. An economically well off young couple with everything but mutual ‘respect’ as is evident from Amrita’s identity being taken for granted and disrespected by Varun without a moment’s thought. Amrita devotes herself to fulfill her husband’s life, being there as a homemaker, as a caretaker, as someone who ties together all aspects of the domestic realm with barely any validation in return. She does so with an infectious smile and jolly spirit- all because she chose so. “Housewife hoon, meri choice thi. Wo paise kamaega, mai ghar chalaungi. Fair deal thi meri. Unfair wo thappad tha, unfair hai mujhse expe...

Paper presentation on the topic 'women and democracy' invited a great number of interesting entries from which 8 were carefully selected to be presented at Jagriti on 5th March 2020. In one of the venues of   paper presentation, 4 participants presented their unique and intriguing paper which was judged by Shobha Warrier. First paper was presented by Gayatri Ahuja on the topic 'Contemporary Global Aspirations of Women Writers'. Gayatri delved into the topic of women's identify through their literary work especially in social media. Her focus was on writings by south asian and north American women and why they choose to write on what they did. The judge remarked that she should perhaps look at women's literature as more than experience sharing in her future work on this paper. The second paper was Mudita titled 'Who is afraid of secularism?'. Her paper questioned what secularism meant to the majority and minority in India, delving into wh...

JAGRITI Commemoration of International Women's Day 5th March, 2020 The day started off with an inaugural ceremony at 9.30 am in the Thevenet Hall, Jesus and Mary College. The inaugural began with a welcome note by the Convener of WSC, Dr. Maya John. The WSC proceeded to showcase a video documenting all the major events of the WSC for the academic year 2019-20. The inaugural ended on a high note with a play performed by the women’s organization, Center for Struggling Women, and a performance by the students of the Hindi Department. The inaugural ceremony ended with the WSC President, Simran Tom, formally announcing the opening of the various events of Jagriti 2020. After the inaugural ceremony, we commemorated International Women’s Day through three parallel events: a debate competition, student paper presentations and a quiz. The Jagriti quiz was on the key highlights of the women's movement across the world, and achievements of women in various fields. The Jagri...