Do you remember Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian adaptation/co-production of Sesame Street, that delightful muppet series for preschoolers on Cartoon Network India and Pogo from 2006? It was led by schoolgirl Chamki, five years old, an enthu cutlet. There was Jugaadu, an inventor who created a robot from spare parts; he played the flute, and later married Revathy from South India. Oh, by the way, he was in a wheelchair, but it never stopped him from enjoying life fully. Basha Bhaijaan, who owned a corner store, was a linguist. His wife Dawa Di, from Northeast India, taught dance. The series’ runaway success was a tribute to “reverse engineering”. Aware of the tremendous power of the media, the series grew organically from workshops with educators, parents, caregivers and NGOs, that helped identify key issues of concern for pre-schoolers—cognition, physical, emotional and social well-being, and culture, harmonising diversity. Following the release of the landmark report, Lights, Camera and Time for Action: Recasting Gender Equality-Compliant Hindi Cinema on June 28, I realised it is time to reverse-engineer Bollywood too: analyse what isn’t working, and fix it. 

“If you can see it, you can be it,” is the motto of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Aware of the tremendous impact of Hindi cinema, Bollywood, the Lights, Camera and Time for Action: Recasting Gender Equality-Compliant Hindi Cinema Report was released by Vidya Balan, Guneet Monga, Nandita Das, Nitin Tej Ahuja, CEO, Producers Guild of India, and a Film Union rep, along with Prof Shalini Bharat, Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, and Mr Mike Hankey, US Consul General. The report was prepared by the TISS’s School of Media and Cultural Studies (SMCS), led by Dr Lakshmi Lingam, retired Professor and Dean, SMCS, and funded by the US Consulate General, Mumbai, see https://gendercinema.tiss.edu/