'Strong uniformed women roles are no longer an aberration'

There is a moment in Dahaad when Sonakshi Sinha’s character Anjali Bhati, a sub-inspector, is stopped by a murder suspect’s father from entering his ancestral home because she is from a lower caste. This is her ‘dahaad’ moment as she responds — “Yeh kanoon ka time hai... chahe thare pushton ki atma ko kitna bhi kasht ho.” This scene and Sonakshi’s character are an example of how women in uniform are now depicted on screen. From Udaan (1989) to Delhi Crime (2018), the strongest roles of policewomen on screen have been inspired by real life officers. Writers and directors say whatever is depicted on screen reflects the change on gound. At present, the challenge for writers is to create a female lead in uniform as a gender-neutral character.

How Udaan paved the way
Udaan (1989) resonated with generations of women for its depiction of IPS officer Kalyani, who deals with gender biases and fights prejudices. During the show’s re-release in 2020, the late Kaveta Chaudhry, who wrote, directed, and produced the series, said, “Initially, I had no intention of writing Udaan, and I had briefed several writers, but they would never get it right. I finally started writing this after becoming really disappointed with the version of other writers... While writing the show, my intention was to send a message to those in positions of power, urging them to take a reality check.”
The role of Kalyani was inspired by the struggles and triumphs of not only Kaveta’s elder sister, Kanchan Chaudhry Bhattacharya, who was the first woman DGP to head a state police force, but also other women officers like Manjari Jaruhar, who was the first IPS officer from Bihar.

‘Delhi Crime’s Vartika is very honest & real’
One of the most memorable portrayals of a female officer is Vartika Chaturvedi in Delhi Crime, based on a real-life officer Chhaya Sharma and played by Shefali Shah. Shefali told us recently, “Vartika’s biggest strength is her vulnerability. She does break down, but she chooses to set her emotions aside and do her job. When she falters, she has the sense to apologise. She has so many layers. She is very honest and real. There is no caricature; there is no larger-than-life persona. People compare other characters with Vartika, but they don’t compare Vartika with anyone. She has her own identity.”
Writer-director Richie Mehta had said that all the characters in the series were inspired by real officers, as he didn’t want to fabricate them.

‘On-ground change is now reflecting on the screen’
Writer and creative producer Samar Khan, who has been part of many women-led series like Code M and The Test Case, says, “Strong roles like that in Udaan are no longer an aberration. Most of my shows were led by strong women characters – Jennifer Winget in Code M, Nimrat Kaur in The Test Case, or Regina Cassandra in Jaanbaaz Hindustan Ke. Women are no longer outsiders
trying to fit in but play a much more active role in uniformed services, which is also reflecting on screen.”

‘Why is it always about men?’
Talking about her character in Mardaani, Rani Mukerji had said in 2019, “Shivani is badass, strong, courageous and represents all the women cops who have served our country tirelessly for so many years, but have not really been given the acknowledgement they deserve. Why are we never told about how courageous they are? Why is it always about men?
In mainstream cinema, we’ve always seen those largerthan-life male cops, so somewhere Mardaani is breaking that mould.”


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