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VOL. 11, ISSUE 4 (2025)
From stereotypes to agency: Changing representation of women in post-liberalization Hindi films (1990–present)
Authors
Gyanchand
Abstract
This paper examines the shifting representation of women in Hindi
cinema from 1990 to the present, a period shaped by India’s post-liberalization
socio-economic transformations. While earlier depictions largely confined women
to roles of sacrifice, domesticity, and dependence, globalization, media
proliferation, and feminist discourse gradually reshaped cinematic portrayals.
Through textual analysis of representative films from Hum Aapke Hain Koun
(1994) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) to Kahaani (2012), Queen (2014),
and Thappad (2020), the study traces women’s transition from marginal, stereotypical
figures to central agents of autonomy and resistance. The findings reveal that
although commodification and patriarchal stereotypes persist, contemporary
Hindi films increasingly foreground female subjectivity and challenge
entrenched gender hierarchies. This research contributes to feminist film
studies by situating women’s cinematic representation within the broader
cultural negotiations of neoliberal India, offering a framework to understand
the dialectic between stereotypes and agency in popular culture. This study not
only maps the evolution of cinematic representation but also establishes a
unique socio-economic lens linking globalization with women’s shifting
cinematic agency, offering an original contribution to feminist film studies in
the Indian context.
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Pages:52-60
How to cite this article:
Gyanchand "From stereotypes to agency: Changing representation of women in post-liberalization Hindi films (1990–present)". International Journal of English Research, Vol 11, Issue 4, 2025, Pages 52-60
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