PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN RITUPARNO GHOSHS FILMS
Cinema is told to be the universal teacher. It is simple and can teach the audience on various issues and provide entertainment at the same time. Cinema has proved to be a wonderful source of entertainment and relaxation. Films increase our horizon while at the same time frames our thinking process as it becomes the popular culture. It is said that films have a lot of influence on the audience and the society. Sometimes knowingly or unknowingly the society is influenced by what is shown on screen and try to relate it to their own life. It is generally seen that there are stereotypical roles, gender expectations from the male and female characters, storyline in a mainstream Indian film. However there are few directors who choose to be different and deal with delicate subjects like relationships, divorce, widowhood, infidelity and LGBT (lesbian, gay, Bisexual, Transexual) issues. Rituparno Ghosh has dealt with issues related to women and places the movie from the point of view of the female character and not the usual male character. The director is said to have understood the psyche of a woman very well and establish that on screen even better. Rituparno Ghoshs always celebrated the female sexuality and liberty and was against the stereotyping of female characters which is again very rare in Indian films. This research is an attempt to see the pattern of portrayal of women in his films regarding to the kind of issues and themes he dealt with.