Alia Bhatt in Raazi: Tradition-Bound Marriage, Freedom Fighter Father - Essay Sample

Introduction

Alia Bhatt is the protagonist in the Raazi (2018) film. She plays the role of Sehmat Khan. The purpose of women in society is depicted in her character. The film is a play of Harinder Sikka novel and is a real account of a research agent. The marriage of Alia Bhatt is predetermined; she is married in an orthodox manner. Her father is the one who decides about her marriage simply to continue with the traditions of the family.

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Rajit Kapur, who is Alia Bhatt's father, is an Indian freedom fighter, and also he is an informant for the Pakistan government. He is the one who plans to make her daughter an agent to continue with the family role of being in service for the country. Her father dies later as a result of lung cancer. Parental jurisdiction is evident in this film, just because Alia is her daughter it does not guarantee that the parent is the one who should determine the career. However, the star does not show any signs to refuse, and she is trained.

Alia Bhatt is first seen in the film as a gentle person who saves a squirrel from death. The move to save something shows the mission that she inherits from her father, which goes a long way in helping India. A woman is viewed differently in this movie. In the female gaze, the woman is empowered; she is not a sexual object as in the male gaze. If the film was of a male gaze, the spy who would save India could be a man at least. Also, Alia's father could not trust the daughter to undertake the mission since she is supposed to be used by men for pleasure and also sire children.

When Alia’s father realized that his health was deteriorating, he decided that her daughter should take on his duties. He knew that Pakistan was planning a secret operation. Just as the movie is called ‘ Raazi,’ the daughter agreed. Alia would later be married in a family of Pakistani brigadier. Her main aim was to spy. She was willing to sacrifice her life for the country. Most of the time, women are portrayed differently. Alia is a feminist who are described as “women who don’t want to be treated like shit” (Gay 1). There is a belief that it is only men who offer their lives for the country's service.

Alia Bhatt being the only child of Rajit, does her best not to disappoint her father although he had passed. The theme of love is seen when the father decides to sacrifice his only daughter in the mission. Maybe if he had a son, he would have chosen him. When the daughter saw the dedication his father had and the trust bestowed on her, she takes the mantle and does her job well as a spy. When watching, some questions can run through the mind whether the girl will be up to the task since she was not a trained agent. After watching the mission, one understands that women are also equal to any challenge.

Alia can be said to be a “good representation” (Summer 2). She did something that other women can be proud of. She is an example that can be used to fight gender inequality. She was loyal to her family and also patriotic to the country. Women, most of the time, lack someone to set the bar high for them. Most of the films which are in the market portray women as vulnerable. All the evil schemes are directed to them. They are shown as people who cannot make decisions on their own but relies on men solely.

Gully Boy (2019)

The film features Murad Ahmed, who is a final year student living in Mumbai. His father is abusive and brings home a young second wife. Murad has a girlfriend who is much possessive, and she is referred to as Safeena Firdausi, who is Alia Bhatt. Alia is in college training to be a surgeon. He meets his boyfriend in secret. Gully Boy brings on an oppositional gaze of Alia Bhatt. She is now viewed as a sexual object different from Raazi. Her character is juxtaposed; she plays separate roles in the male gaze as well as in the female gaze. She is the character who brings the two viewpoints clearly. Also, when Murad's father brings a much younger wife, the male gaze is the one which is at play here.

The movie shows the success of men at the expense of women. The character of women is only brought on love matters. Murad undertakes his father’s duties and also begins writing. His lyrics were the inequalities he observed while working. He is motivated by Bhosle, who is also a male and uploads his first video on YouTube.

Murad is seen being intimate with Sky and decides to lie to Safeena (Alia Bhatt). Safeena realizes this and reacts violently, kicking her with a bottle of beer on her head. Murad later leaves Safeena because he sees her as possessive. Sky expressed some romantic feelings to Murad, but he declined because he still had some feelings for Safeena. He decides to reconcile with her, and they are back together.

The viewer sees women as weak creatures. They can be tuned in any direction as the man wants. Murad leaves Safeena for Sky maybe after he feels he has had enough of her. Sky continues being with Murad despite knowing that there was a fight, which was a result of a love affair. She decides to act blindly as long as his boyfriend was becoming more popular with his rap songs. Finally, Murad leaves Sky again for Safeena. Despite being left for another girl, Safeena forgives him, and they are back together. The film is of a male gaze, which shows women as sexual objects. They do not contribute to society in any way. Women are used by men for sexual satisfaction and siring children. “Women like concentration, there is a pleasure at being looked at. At this point, he associated scopophilia with taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze” (Mulvey 16).

While men are more focused on success, what bothers women according to this movie is their bodies and relationships. It is the reason that women are used and dumped. Murad does all in his ability to be more popular and hence attract more fans. “The distance necessary to detach the signifiers of madness from the body in the construction of even a discourse which exceeds the boundaries of sense is lacking. In the words of Helene Cixous, 'More so than men who are coaxed toward social success, toward sublimation, women are the body” (Doane 79).

Conclusion

In the film of Raazi, we find a female protagonist. Having a woman as a star is not enough reason to say the movie is a feminist film. The character is the one which makes one conclude that. Her father predetermines her role. She is not at liberty to choose what to do with her life. The protagonist is entrusted with an essential task of being a spy after her father died. She performs her duties diligently despite having not trained before. Alia came from school to being a spy. The film is of a female gaze. Women are not sexual objects. They can contribute immensely to the progress of the country. The Gully Boy brings a different character of Alia Bhatt. The film is of a male gaze. She is shown as a sexual object the same as Sky. Men represented by Murad are the ones who are concerned with social success. Women are putting all their concentration on their bodies and being loved. The relationships are not always sweet. They sometimes become sour, Safeena hit Sky with a bottle as a result of bitterness caused by love.

Works Cited

Doane, Mary Ann. "Film and the Masquerade: Theorising the female spectator." Screen 23.3-4 (1982): 74-88.

Gay, Roxane. Bad feminists: essays. btb Verlag, 2019.

Mulvey, Laura. "Visual pleasure and narrative cinema." Visual and other pleasures. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1989. 14-26.

Summer, Kim Lee. ” Too Close, Too Compromised: Killing Eve and the Promise of Sandra Oh - Los Angeles Review of Books, 2018