Women and Film: Portrayal of Domestic Violence in Selected Bollywood Movies

Abstract

The acts of violence against women have been the interest of many researchers for decades. Gendered violence is rooted in the conventional views on masculinity and femininity and the notion of men as superior and women as inferior. Several women are subjected to various kinds of abuse inside and outside their families throughout their lives. This paper explains the role of gender-based violence and to what extent domestic violence, especially intimate partner violence (IPV), afflicted women. Several Bollywood movies portray IPV and the unending helplessness of women in the domestic household. The paper studies three Bollywood movies, 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), Parched (2015) and Darlings (2022), and analyses how domestic violence is performed, affected and tackled.