Be it creating awareness about following the lockdown guidelines or the need to mask up during the pandemic, the Mumbai Police’s social media handle has often retorted to wit and humour to highlight various social issues. On many occasions, Bollywood movie dialogues, posters and pictures have been tactfully weaved in to deliver the message in a filmi fashion, along with a sense of humour. Recently, the Mumbai Police social media handles put out a bunch of dialogues from various Bollywood movies, which was aimed at putting the spotlight on the misogyny and casual sexism that exists in our society and in cinema.

The post read — “Cinema is a reflection of our society — Here are (just) a few (of many) dialogues both our society & cinema need to reflect upon. Choose your words & actions with care — unless you want the law to intervene! #LetsNotNormaliseMisogyny #MindYourLanguage #WomenSafety (sic).” It was accompanied by snapshots of the dialogues from movies like Hum Tumhare Hai Sanam (2002), Maalamaal (1988), Dabangg (2010) and Kabir Singh (2019), among others.

While a dialogue from Dil Dhadakne Do, too, is among the ones listed here, the writers of the film — Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti — have used this situation in the movie to specifically highlight the sexist attitude that’s prevalent in society. In Dil Dhadakne Do, following Rahul Bose’s statement about allowing his wife to pursue her career, Farhan Akhtar points out the inherent sexism in his views.

There have been various debates and discussions over the past few years about how women have been portrayed in cinema and the need for change. We spoke to contemporary Bollywood writers for a perspective on the subject and the debate around misogyny, sexism and feminism.

Hussain Dalal, who is known for his dialogues of films like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, 2 States and Kalank, among several others, asserts, “I’m grateful that the Mumbai Police called it out, I love what they do with swag. As for misogynistic characters in our films, I think it’s an insecure male who treats a woman badly. There’s no concept of an alpha male. Either he’s a well-brought-up, happy, secure person or there’s something in him that needs immediate attention. Misogyny in my understanding is as deep-rooted as any mental health issue and cinema in no way should be promoting the idea. Yes, sometimes, we need to create a character to depict the contrasting ideologies. That’s not promoting misogyny, in fact, it is underlining the issue for people to understand.”

Talking about the way he approaches his characters, Hussain says, “I have never disrespected women while writing some strong male characters or dialogues, and vice versa. If we become over-woke, we can’t have humour in our films. Also, a person getting offended is not always right. The thing is, dialogues in films have a context in which they are presented, and they have to be seen with it.”

Films, especially in the ’80s and ’90s, often romanticised and normalised a man pursuing a woman by following her or not taking no for an answer. Piyush Gupta, who has co-written films like Dangal, Chhichhore and Bhoothnath Returns, shares, “I think any pop culture, especially cinema has had a deep imprint on our minds. People who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s were exposed to a chhed-chhad song in the movies. The boy-chasing-the-girl number was an accepted thing and it did have its social impact.”

However, he points out that things are changing today. “Cinema needs to have some sort of conscience while saying something,” he says, adding, “It’s a powerful tool and it must take some responsibility and have a moral compass attached while creating a piece of work. Also, I believe that having a misogynistic character in the film is not about idolising them. The filter we use is the point of view of our film. Everything is a building block to create that view. The main mudda should be clear. For that, if you have to create an opposing viewpoint, you must. But that in no way should be assumed as the promotion of something like misogyny.”

Among the dialogues highlighted by the Mumbai Police were lines like ‘Woh meri bandi hai’, written by Siddharth-Garima for Kabir Singh. The duo has also contributed to films like Ram-Leela and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, among others. Siddharth Singh of Siddharth-Garima says, “I just wish that they had also picked up the strong lines that we have written, empowering the woman in a film. Like we had some strong dialogues for Bhumi Pednekar in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. We have to approach a character for what it is. When Rahul Bose’s character in Dil Dhadakne Do says that ‘I allowed her to run her business’, the rest of the film actually goes all out to highlight that he’s so wrong in thinking like that. A society is made of all kinds of people and that needs proper depiction. Unless you depict the harmful thoughts prevalent, how will you depict the solution for it? With no conflict, how will anyone write a strong film? Kabir Singh’s character was not meant to be idolised. He is not someone you are supposed to look up to. And if someone looked up to him, then he needs to look within.”

Garima Wahal of the duo sums up, saying, “Citing dialogues in isolation is not fair because everything is written keeping a situation and the character in mind. In popular culture, there are extremely misogynistic songs and films which actually need to be picked on, and they are the kind of things that we as creators need to avoid today. If I see the other side of the coin, misogyny and feminism are also abused terms. There is change and there needs to be more change, inside out. Siddharth and I had a tough time casting for a film about a woman making some very bold choices in her life — and by that, we don’t mean that she’s a drunkard or a scamster or some kind of a loose wagon. No mainstream heroine wanted to do it without a strong male opposite her. Dialogues have to be seen in perspective and are interpreted differently by different people. Creators are doing their bit, but the viewers have to do their bit as well.”