Vishal Bhardwaj Birthday: The filmmaker who saw progressive and bolder women characters beyond the lens of mainstream Bollywood

On Vishal Bhardwaj's birthday, let's take a look at some of his female protagonists who were unapologetically bold, brave and progressive. From Tabu in Maqbool and Haider to Priyanka Chopra Jonas in 7 Khoon Maaf, he created aspirational characters despite their grey shades

Vishal Bhardwaj is one such filmmaker whose films cannot be defined by one genre. Blending various themes with literature, he creates his dark world where humans are unconventional and dwell in poetic surroundings. With over 2 decades of experience in the Indian film industry, he has experimented with razor-sharp characters through their human complexities and interpersonal relationships.

It is Vishal's birthday today. On this special occasion, it is justified to celebrate the characters that have come out of his genuine writings and creative mind. Especially female characters in his films. Exploring unchartered territories with actors like Tabu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shabana Azmi and many more, Vishal has stayed far away from the mainstream Bollywood projection of protagonists. 

Tabu is undoubtedly one of Vishal's favourite film stars and it is evident. In the history of Indian cinema, this actor-director duo wrote multiple chapters on how to develop deeper, more progressive and braver women that most films tend to miss. He set the benchmark high with cinematic gems like Maqbool and Haider where Tabu entered the Shakespearan land and excelled. Talking about Maqbool, Tabu's Nimmi broke boundaries, never settled for less and had fierce ambitions. Her love and desire had a certain degree of ferocity. Completely unhinged and defenceless, Nimmi's arc in the film based on Macbeth was worth savouring. 

Talking about Maqbool and women characters, Vishal said in an interview, "I had accidentally read ‘Macbeth’ and subsequently went through all his other works." He further added, “In my family, I saw that women had more strength and men were internally weak; in fact, women came out strongly in times of crises."

Magnificently portraying Ghazala's tragedy and melancholy with a dash of swag, Tabu left a deep impact with her performance in Haider. Based on Hamlet, her character was inspired by Gertrude, a half-widow who was entangled in tabooed relationships. From finding solace in her brother-in-law to passionately loving her son (Shahid Kapoor) despite his contempt towards her, she brought alive Vishal's vision like never before. Her internal drama stood out. 

Speaking of Shabana Azmi in Makdee, Vishal gave her the character of a witch who isn't just evil but lonely too. Making negative look and feel deliciously scary, the filmmaker didn't fail to give her an arc that stayed rent-free in the minds of the audience. 

Vishal teamed up with Priyanka Chopra Jonas twice. Their interesting collaboration put her into the shoes of Susanna in 7 Khoon Maaf based on Ruskin Bond's Susanna's Seven Husbands. While she wasn't a woman with no crime, Vishal made sure nobody hated his protagonist for her actions as they were aptly justified in complex ways. She was the hero of her story who developed the emotion of empathy for herself among the audience.

His debut web series Charlie Chopra & The Mystery of Solang Valley has multiple strong female protagonists including Ratna Pathak Shah, Neena Gupta and Wamiqa Gabbi to name a few. The pilot episode was made available to the audience way before the announcement of its official release date. It projected Wamiqa as a detective with dashes of quirk and sass. 

It's a world where Vishal's female characters live and dominate and the audience supports it. With projects like Khufiya lined up, it is anticipated that he will continue introducing inspirational and aspirational women to the film industry.  

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