Films like Mrs., The Great Indian Kitchen, Thappad, Dor, and more sparked widespread discussion about the value our society assigns to women’s labour and agency. Sarthak Parashar writes about how the impossible choices faced under patriarchal social obligations—in reel and real life.  

From the fierce Baldev Singh in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, the inimical patriarchs in Mohabbatein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, and gentler fathers in Thappad and Gunjan Saxena, Harshita Murkarka takes a look at the evolution of fatherhood in the post economic-liberalised Bollywood.

Anubhav Sinha’s Thappad (2020) raises questions on our conditioning and deeply-ingrained patriarchy, reminding us that abuse in a relationship comes in all forms—physical, emotional, blind to class or caste. Review by Nidhi Choksi Dhakan.