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Renegotiating gender through dress in Bollywood: The new Indian woman

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DOI: 10.1386/fspc.3.3.313_1

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 FSPC 3 (3) pp. 313–325 Intellect Limited 2016

Fashion, Style & Popular Culture

Volume 3 Number 3
© 2016 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/fspc.3.3.313_1

JESSICA STRUBEL AND BHARATH M. JOSIAM

University of North Texas

Renegotiating gender
through dress in Bollywood:
The new Indian woman

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Drawing upon the components of the social role theory and postcolonial theory, diasporic identity
this study examined the role of Bollywood diaspora films on the formation or rene- Bollywood
gotiation of identity among non-resident Indian women as manifested in their dress. dress
We were specifically interested in the creation of a new hybrid Indian identity for gender roles
young women of the diaspora, the women who are able to move seamlessly between postcolonialism
their two worlds, and in looking at the role of Bollywood as it reconciles traditional NRI
Indian values with the progress of postcolonial India.

INTRODUCTION
Bollywood is a thriving Indian movie industry based in Bombay (now
Mumbai). Bollywood films generally last for two and a half hours with formu-
laic storylines that embody Indian values, family drama, music and complex
choreography (Gooptu 2011; Matusitz and Payano 2011). Bollywood repre-
sents the essence of India but also provides temporal escapism for its view-
ers. Bollywood films with their extravagance and spectacle present a fantasy
lifestyle for India’s wide audience to escape from the realities of poverty
and political disorder (Hirji 2005). Everything and everyone in the films are
beautiful and melodramatic, presenting India as it ‘should be’ in modernity,

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Jessica Strubel | Bharath M. Josiam

especially for the rising (and globalized) middle class that is largely responsi-
ble for the production of Bollywood films (Dwyer 2010: 381).
Since the mid-1990s, Bollywood has entered pop culture vernacular
across the world. In fact, the international popularity of Bollywood has helped
entertainment to become India’s second largest growth sector (Matusitz and
Payano 2011). Most of these films are situated outside of India and target a
market of non-resident Indians (NRI) who are willing to pay a premium to
view films that connect them to India.
Dress in India has always served as a channel of meaningful communica-
tion. Because of westernization, Hindi films, including those of Bollywood,
help to maintain and reposition the Indian identity through costuming. This is
especially true of NRI women as they renegotiate their roles in modern, west-
ern society while preserving their tradition.
For much of Bollywood’s history, the heroine wore traditional Indian
costume (which was associated with womanhood and nationalism), while the
less virtuous vamp (e.g., villainess) was able to wear her choice of westernized
and glamorous outfits (Rao 2010). The vamp and her clothing embodied excess
and became a cultural symbol of modernity. According to Clare Wilkinson-
Weber (2005), the vamp was exceptionally charismatic, but she was not meant
to be a model for emulation by decent female moviegoers. The vamp became
synonymous with the concept of ‘anti-Indianness’ that was imposed by colo-
nialism (Rao 2010: 7; Wilkinson-Weber 2005). Western attire, anything which
was too revealing and risqué, also personified modern conventions and the
temptations of the West. Hence, a western dress was commonplace for vamps,
because to identify with the West was to deny the virtues of Indian tradition.

TRADITIONAL GENDER AND BOLLYWOOD

A key element of a person’s identity and relationships with others is gender
identity and the roles associated with gender. According to the social role
theory (Eagly and Wood 2012), gender role beliefs are constructed as males
and females adopt ascribed gender roles and personality traits within soci-
ety. Consequently, the behaviour of men and women is dictated by percep-
tions of their expected social roles. Research also suggests that the more
consistent one is with their gender role, the more likely they will experi-
ence effortless social interactions (Eagly and Wood 2012; Prentice and
Carranza 2002).
As in most societies, women’s roles in India have been strictly prescribed
by tradition and decorum. The socially desirable Indian woman is the chaste
and dutiful daughter, wife or mother, traits that are often portrayed in Indian
cinema. Women who defied traditional gender roles were chastised. This view
was mirrored in cinematography where female characters that assumed quali-
ties other than that of the pious female were also admonished (Gokulsing and
Dissanayake 1998).
For the first 50 years of Hindi film history, it was considered unbecoming
for decent Hindi women to even perform in Bollywood films. Female roles
were often played by Indian women of Anglo heritage, or by Jewish women
who constituted the foreign community of India (Green 2013; Rao 2007). As
acting became more acceptable, the foreign women slowly shifted into the
roles of vamps. Florence (Farhat) Ezekiel, more commonly known by her
stage name, Nadira, was born into a Jewish family in Baghdad. Her family

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 Renegotiating gender through dress in Bollywood

Figure 1: Florence (Farhat) Ezekiel in Shree 420. Copyright 1955, V.I.P. Films.

immigrated to Bombay in the 1930s. For several decades Nadira played the
sultry temptress opposite many chaste Hindi heroines (see Figure 1).
The antithesis of the virtuous wife, the vamp, was a modern woman who
engaged in the improprieties of the westernized society (e.g., drinking, smok-
ing, seducing men). In classic Bollywood, the vamp is portrayed as the proto-
typical villainess who is not only malicious but also morally corrupt. The vamp
is an entity that has become associated with everything that is ‘unwhole-
some about the west’, including dressing in western attire (Gokulsing and
Dissanayake 1998: 77). Popular heroines of the 1970s and 1980s, such as
Hema Malini and Mala Sinha, openly refused to wear westernized attire or
other clothes they considered revealing or risqué (Rao 2010).

POSTCOLONIAL INDIA AND BOLLYWOOD

The postcolonial theory examines the struggles of a native culture for cultural
and political autonomy after exploitation by a hegemonic power (Childs
and Williams 1997; Tiffin 1988). During decolonization, colonialism is often
ensconced in the postcolonial culture as exhibited by the persistence of colo-
nial ideologies (e.g., Indians seeing western culture as superior to indigenous
Indian culture) (Childs and Williams 1997; Loomba 2007). This creates the
problem of unsettled identities within the indigenous cultures, a fundamen-
tal issue associated with postcolonialism. Postcolonialism, for many people, is
marked by the difficult task of renegotiating their identity once they are again
free to assume their pre-colonial self. Throughout history, postcolonial peri-
ods have been characterized by major diasporas from the colonized country
to the land of the imperial power (Childs and Williams 1997). Immediately

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Jessica Strubel | Bharath M. Josiam

following India’s independence in 1947, many Indians immigrated to Great

Britain and other former British colonies, while many others found their way
to North America (Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs 2004).
Following decolonization, Bollywood quickly developed into a model of
nationalism in India, featuring the cultural clashes between western moder-
nity and Indian tradition (Rao 2007). Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the inde-
pendence movement, urged Indians to boycott foreign-made goods, including
clothing (O’Barr 2008). Gandhi, himself, preferred the austere simplicity of
Indian attire. Advertisements, from the period immediately following decol-
onization in 1947, often presented different ethnic groups in India wearing
their respective costumes, whereas the ads of colonialism featured European
(i.e., British) and American spokespeople. After Indian independence, women,
including Bollywood actresses, were frequently used to endorse popular
products. For example, in 1947, Lux Soap repositioned their marketing strat-
egy by featuring Bollywood actress Kanan Devi rather than the conventional
American film stars of the colonial period.
Nehruvian democracy between 1947 and the 1960s was a period of hope
and stability (Gokulsing and Dissanayake 1998). The 1970s became a period
of stark cynicism with the availability of consumer goods that the majority
of Indians could not afford (Gokulsing and Dissanayake 1998). In the 1970s,
films were politically motivated and intrinsically oppositional, generally
featuring an angry anti-hero who took the law into his own hands (Gokulsing
and Dissanayake 1998; Kaur 2002; Rao 2007).
Since gaining independence from the British and the economic liberalism
of 1991, India’s new economy has been gaining momentum (Dwyer 2010).
Internationalization and the newfound prosperity have created a culture of
significant consumerism in India. With a change in the economy came a new
narrative in Bollywood films (Kaur 2002). Films of the 1990s told stories of the
upper and middle class, partially to appeal to affluent Indians living outside of
India. Storylines and leading characters were often westernized to reflect the
social changes taking place in India, including India’s gradual shift in political and
economic conditions within the global scene (Ho 2004; Kaur 2002; Rao 2010).
The relationship between Indian film and fashion also changed in the
1990s because of economic liberalization, a keen interest in ready-to-wear
and the influence of the upwardly mobile non-resident Indians (Rao 2010;
Wilkinson-Weber 2005). The traditional Indian identity was replaced with
a consumerist mentality among the emerging urban middle class, thereby
changing apparel consumption in India. For years, affluent Indian women
have been able to draw sartorial inspiration from films, but only now with the
availability of commodities are middle-class women also able to outfit them-
selves like the ladies of Bollywood.
Beginning in the 1990s, western apparel no longer represented anti-
Indianness or deviance and the evils of westernization; instead it indicated
one’s ability to ‘be at home anywhere in the word’ (Dwyer and Patel 2002: 97;
Wilkinson-Weber 2005).

DIASPORA FILMS AND NRI

Hindi films, set in foreign locations, have been around since the 1960s,
depicting Bollywood’s image of the diaspora. They are trying to relate to the
diasporic (non-resident Indian) audience by creating an imagined commu-
nity and national popular culture through the incorporation of native products

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 Renegotiating gender through dress in Bollywood

and symbolism – an essence of India with global influences. The consumption

of Bollywood therefore satiates the feelings of nostalgia and longing for the
homeland without actually having to return to India (Gooptu 2011; Matusitz
and Payano 2011). Diasporic Bollywood films are directly impacting the ideo-
logical values, in addition providing a form of escapism and promotion of
passive consumerism.
The female figure in Bollywood has traditionally been a symbolic identifier
with India, thereby reinforcing India’s cultural heritage and asserting stability
of tradition. Bollywood films, especially the diasporic films, have created two
models of the Indian woman, both perhaps as a response to postcolonialism,
which created not only a renewal of tradition (i.e., fundamentalism) but also
new debates on women’s rights. The first image is that of the girl who grows up
into the traditional Indian woman. She may embrace the comforts of western
society in her youth, but she will ultimately succumb to the powers of tradition
by the end of the film as she turns into the deferential Indian wife. The second
model presented in Bollywood films is that of the woman who can move seam-
lessly between her two worlds, crossing between societal contexts of India and
western society. Some of the characters do not compromise modernity and
Indianness and instead abandon aspects of Indian tradition altogether.

THE DEMURE INDIAN GIRL

The strong charismatic female leads can participate in the superficiality of
western society as long as the she transforms into the demure Indian girl by
the end of the film. Although young heroines of contemporary Bollywood are
now able to try on a variety of identities, the most elaborate costumes largely
appear in song and dance sequences. Many films use foreign (meaning west-
ern) dancers in western attire for the ostentatious song and dance sequences.
These dance scenes serve as a space for showing skin, which is associated
with transgressive sexual relations; yet, it is also more acceptable for the
heroine to dress and behave with the assertiveness of the classic vamp (Rao
2007; Wilkinson-Weber 2005). Be that as it may, audiences expect the hero-
ine to declare her devotion to tradition through the wearing of traditional
Indian dress (e.g., a sari) at least for part of the film (Rao 2010). The heroine
also maintains, for the most part, her decency by allowing the aforemen-
tioned foreign backup dancers to create sexual tension through western dress
and sexualized dance moves in the song and dance sequences (Rao 2010).
An illustration of the demure model of Indian women can be seen in
classic movies such as Purab Aur Paschhim (Kumar 1970) and Dilwale Dulhania
le Jayenge (Chopra 1995), and the more contemporary Namastey London
(Shah 2007).
In the 1970 film Purab Aur Paschhim, the son of a freedom fighter, Bharat,
leaves India for London to study. He is shocked at the Indians he meets in
London, and the extent to which many have abandoned their Indian culture
and traditions. However, Bharat does fall in love with an Anglo-Indian girl
he meets in London, Prithi. Prithi has blonde hair, smokes, drinks, wears a
lot of make-up and mini-skirts (see Figure 2). Prithi also falls in love with
Bharat, but refuses to move to India with him. Bharat finally convinces her
to visit India where Prithi realizes she actually appreciates the virtuousness
of the country and she renounces her western ways. She gives up smoking
and drinking and even her provocative attire in favour of traditional Indian
clothing.

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Jessica Strubel | Bharath M. Josiam

Figure 2: Saira Banu as Prithi. Copyright 1975, V.I.P. Films.

Much like the heroine in Purab Aur Paschhim, Simran (played by Kajol) in
Dilwale Dulhania le Jayenge is an NRI living in London with her family. She
dresses in the typical attire of the 1990s (the film was released in 1995), but
once she returns to Punjab with her family she is promised to a Punjabi boy
and inevitably adopts the traditional Indian sari (see Figures 3 and 4).

Figure 3: Kajol, as Simran, in western attire. Copyright 1995, Yash Raj Films.

318
 Renegotiating gender through dress in Bollywood

Figure 4: Kajol, as Simran, in traditional Indian attire. Copyright 1995, Yash Raj
Films.

Namastey London was released in 2007 and demonstrates that the first
behavioural model for women is not reserved only for older titles. Heroine
Jasmeet (Katrina Kaif) is the epitome of the British NRI, a modern young
woman who is completely assimilated to British culture. On a family trip
to India, young Jasmeet is forced to marry a boy in India. The plot thickens
when Jasmeet refuses to recognize her marriage to Arjun, and instead she
announces her plan to marry her Anglo boyfriend who is also part of the inner

Figure 5: Katrina Kaif (as Jasmeet) and Akshay Kumar (as Arjun) in western
attire. Copyright 2007, Blockbuster Movie Entertainers.

319
Jessica Strubel | Bharath M. Josiam

Figure 6: Scene in India with Katrina Kaif in traditional Indian dress. Copyright
2007, Blockbuster Movie Entertainers.

circle of the British elite. Being Indian though, Jasmeet does not quite fit in.
She is subjected to racist comments and other forms of denigration. All the
while, Arjun is a touchstone for Jasmeet, drawing the two emotionally closer.
In the end, Jasmeet realizes her love for Arjun, abandons her British boyfriend
and returns to India with Arjun where she assumes her role as the conven-
tional Indian woman. Throughout the movie, Jasmeet is dressed in trendy
western attire while in London (see Figure 5). However, in India, she does
adopt traditional clothing (see Figure 6).

THE POSTCOLONIAL INDIAN WOMAN WITH CHOICE

Overall, we have witnessed dramatic changes in women’s social roles in
recent years, including greater access to education, changes in labour partici-
pation and reduced birth rates (Bhan 2001; Eagly and Wood 2012). With the
significant shifts in social restrictions, we also see confounding male and
female attributes that reflect what Eagly and Wood call the ‘masculinizing of
women’s experiences’ (e.g., dress behaviour; 2012: 24).
During colonialism, women in India held conflicting ideas of what the
female identity should be. Women no longer accepted their marginalized
status, or the traditional social order of women, and attitudes towards the
women’s movement altered. In 1977, the new national government, with the
combined pressures of women’s groups, generated policies that fought to
demarginalize women by providing employment and education (Agnihotri and
Mazumdar 1995). Ironically, even with the accumulation of women’s organi-
zations fighting for women’s rights in the 1980s, a revival of fundamentalism

320
 Renegotiating gender through dress in Bollywood

ensued (ironically during the service of female Prime Minister Indira Gandhi).
The renewal of strict tradition underscored women’s reproductive role above
all else, as evidenced in the steady rise of violence against women and the
media portrayal of women as ‘consumers rather than producers’ (Agnihotri
and Mazumdar 1995: 1870).
The portrayal of western society in Bollywood can also be surreal, and
has received a lot of criticism for the incorporation of extra martial affairs,
divorce and promiscuity of women (Hall 2007). Despite the restoration of
tradition that took place in the mid-1980s, the lifestyle of the urban woman
has changed drastically and Bollywood is now portraying the modern woman
as ‘brash and bold’ (Anon 2011). Unconventional behaviours are acceptable,
at least with the purpose of reflecting the cultural struggles of non-resident
Indian women.
Female leads, including the heroine, now impact the dress habits of
both middle class and upper class women. The dress of the contemporary
Bollywood heroine is still stylistically Indian, but tailored closer to the body
and less conventional by combining it with the elements of western fash-
ion. The dress is also symbolic of their identification with the women they
see in the films and their embracement of the western glamour that defined
1970s Bollywood heroines (Wilkinson-Weber 2005). More and more styles
from Bollywood films are appearing on the racks in India where consumer-
ism is lauded, thereby influencing a trendy youth market. There is also a rise
in the popularity of fusion clothes (Indian styles are adapted and westernized)
(Wilkinson-Weber 2005: 152). Bollywood demonstrates the shift in mental-
ity from formality, and the expression of Indianness, to a modernized Indian
identity marked by consumerism and a renegotiation of women’s traditional
gender role expectations.
Again, the second model of Indian woman is a modern woman who is
comfortable on the global stage, mixing modernity with tradition. Bollywood
has created a modern woman with a distinct identity who is capable of having
friendships with men without threatening her virtue. Modern women of India,
and abroad, place an emphasis on individualism and liberalism and are using
their dress to reflect this change in gender roles.
This movement is reflected in the costuming of the female leads in
contemporary Bollywood films. The contextual dress of the Indian woman is
no longer postcolonial (1947), and nor does she view herself, in traditional
dress, as inferior. At the same time, there are changing views of the vamp; the
heroine is shown as vampy, but it is not contemptible.
A woman can have it all, especially those of the diasporic audience. She
can be connected to the modern conventions of the western world while
maintaining her Indian tradition, as demonstrated in women’s acceptance of
(and comfort with) both styles of clothing.
A classic example of Bollywood’s new woman is depicted in We Are Family
(2010), a movie about a divorced mother of three in Australia who wears
western clothing throughout the film, and yet there are elements of tradi-
tional Indian design in many of her clothes. Nonetheless, during traditional
Indian events, such as Dilwali and her daughter’s wedding, the entire family is
dressed exclusively in traditional Indian attire.
In the film, Dostana (Mansukhani 2008), the heroine, Neha, lives with
two straight men who pretend to be a gay couple in order to secure a styl-
ish Miami apartment. Both of the male characters, Kunal and Sameer, fall for
their female roommate. In the end, when Kunal and Sameer reveal that they

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Jessica Strubel | Bharath M. Josiam

Figure 7: Neha with Kunal and Sameer drinking beer. Copyright 2008, Dharma
Productions.

are indeed straight, Neha still remains friends with both men and maintains
her respectability. Neha’s dress throughout the movie is obviously western-
ized and quite sparse being that many scenes are filmed in South Beach. Her
dress also reflects her role as the powerful female executive at a popular fash-
ion magazine, the NRI woman who can ‘hang with the boys’ (see Figure 7).
However, during the song and dance scenes, she wears a cover-up with her
bikini while the foreign background dancers leave nothing to the imagination.
Some films have a purely western costume aesthetic and are much more
audacious in the portrayal of the heroine. In Dhoom 3 (the Indian version of
Ocean’s Eleven; Acharya 2013), the heroine does not even bother with Indian
costume for the song and dance sequences. In fact, in the second dance
sequence, she is essentially performing a striptease. Layer by layer, Katrina Kaif
(the heroine) removes her clothing (dingy overalls and trench coat) until she’s
left wearing nothing but a sports bra and very form-fitting shorts (see Figure 8).
Similarly, the female characters in Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (set in Las Vegas;
Batra 2012) not only wear western clothing but clothing that is the quintessence
of licentiousness (e.g., revealing bathing suits, mini-skirts and tight dresses).
The plot of the movie is very suggestive even for contemporary Indian cinema.
Heroine Riana (played by Karina Kapoor) is shown walking out of bars carrying
an open bottle of beer, and after a night of binge drinking, the two lead charac-
ters wind up in a shotgun wedding that inevitably ends in a quick annulment.

Figure 8: Katrina Kaif. Copyright 2013, Yash Raj Films.

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 Renegotiating gender through dress in Bollywood

Figure 9: Katrina Kaif and Hrithik Roshan. Copyright 2011, Eros International.

The rest of the film addresses Rahul’s (the hero played by Imran Khan) rocky
relationship with his overpowering parents. Even when the main characters
find themselves in India, they maintain their westernized dress aesthetic.
The popular 2011 coming-of-age Bollywood sensation Zindagi Na Milegi
Dobara (Akhtar 2011), follows Kabir (played by Abhay Deol) and his college
friends to Spain to celebrate his bachelor party. This movie also embodies all
that is the antithesis of the sacred Indian culture. Women are forward, every-
one is dressed in revealing western attire and there is even an explicating
open kiss between two characters (see Figure 9). The movie culminates in two
song and dance marriages between four of the main characters, where every-
one, with the exception of a few older women, are wearing western clothing
(including the brides and grooms).
Bollywood heroines (including the ubiquitous vamps) serve as models for
contemporary Indian and NRI women, reaffirming the idea that the Indian
woman can be modernized without compromising her Indian identity and
with no shame as revealed in her dress. As we have discussed, there are two
models women can follow that preserve their Indian identity. Regardless of
the path they choose, each allows women to unapologetically and visible
assert their ethnic identity without compromising their acceptance of moder-
nity and shifting roles in Indian society (in and outside of India), albeit the
second framework allows for more fluidity of modern expression.
Nevertheless, the modern Indian woman embraces global modernity and
confidently pairs traditional saris with western designs and is unashamed about
her sexual assertiveness. Bollywood and its leading ladies have compelled
women to question and renegotiate their social roles, thereby allowing them
participation in a more liberalized society without marginalization.

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SUGGESTED CITATION
Strubel, J. and Josiam, B. M. (2016), ‘Renegotiating gender through dress in
Bollywood: The new Indian woman’, Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, 3: 3,
pp. 313–325, doi: 10.1386/fspc.3.3.313_1

CONTRIBUTOR DETAILS
Jessica Strubel is an assistant professor in Merchandising at the University of
North Texas. Her research interests include, but are not limited to, American
popular culture, youth cultures and music subcultures as consumer groups,
and the popular media as a tool for cultural/fashion diffusion. She is also the
Reviews Editor for Fashion, Style, & Popular Culture.
Contact: College of Merchandising, Hospitality & Tourism, University of
North Texas, 342H Chilton Hall, 1155 Union Circle #311100, Denton, TX
76203-5017, USA.
E-mail: jessica.strubel@unt.edu

Bharath M. Josiam is a professor in Hospitality and Tourism Management

at the University of North Texas. He has been a faculty member at leading
Hospitality Management programmes for over twenty years. His primary
research interests are in consumer behaviour of tourists and international
tourism.
Contact: College of Merchandising, Hospitality & Tourism, University of
North Texas, 342H Chilton Hall, 1155 Union Circle #311100, Denton, TX
76203-5017, USA.
E-mail: bharath.josiam@unt.edu

Jessica Strubel and Bharath M. Josiam have asserted their right under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the authors of
this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd.

325

ISBN: 978­1­78320­685­8
70 Illustrations
108 pp | £27/$38
Paperback | Autumn 2016
220 x 220mm
eBook available
Joseph H. Hancock II teaches and
conducts research at Drexel University
in Philadelphia and is the editor of the
journal Fashion, Style and Popular
Culture. Nioka Wyatt is assistant
professor in the fashion merchandising &
management programme at Philadelphia
University. Tasha L. Lewis is assistant
professor in the Department of Fiber
Science & Apparel Design at Cornell
University.
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Cotton
Companies, Fashion and the Fabric of Our Lives
Edited by Joseph H. Hancock II, Nioka Wyatt and Tasha L. Lewis
This book brings together contributors from a wide range of
disciplines to explore the importance of cotton as a major resource
for US fashion businesses. It is rooted in a lengthy investigative
research project that deployed undergraduate and graduate
students and faculty researchers to US fashion businesses that
rely on cotton to make their garments – with the goal of bet­
ter understanding how such a key resource is sourced, priced,
transported, manipulated, and, ultimately, sold on to the consumer
as a stylish garment.
The contributors focus in particular on the role of brands in the
marketing of cotton goods, and the way that brand marketing
creates distinctions, valuable in the marketplace, between vari­
ous versions of what are at base similar items of clothing, like
t­shirts and underclothes. The book also explores the importance
of the ‘Made in the USA’ campaign, with its appeal to consum­
ers concerned about local manufacturing employment, reduced
resource use, and social responsibility.
To order this book online visit our website:
www.intellectbooks.com