Top Indian women-centric movies written by women, for women 

The world of cinema deals with complex themes and stories, showcasing different aspects and situations of characters, stories, and relationships. Movies take us on a character’s psychological and emotional journey, emphasizing strong emotions, psychology, mindset, experiences, and the character’s world. While most movies are based on a male character or ‘Hero’ of a movie, some iconic women-centric movies have left a strong impression on the audience. These movies represent different journeys and stories of females in the male-dominated society, how they counter the stereotypes and move ahead in the direction of their personal growth. Not only are these movies written for women, but they are also written by female writers who bring a unique and enlightening perspective to the narratives. Who can understand a woman better than a woman? Beautifully written and executed, these movies touch on complex topics and stereotypes of society. Such movies are potent symbols of women’s empowerment and identity. Let’s look at the list of women-centric movies written by female writers and discuss their stories and themes. 

English Vinglish (2012)  

Written and directed by Gauri Shinde, English Vinglish is a beautiful movie starring Sridevi as the main lead. The story revolves around the life of Shashi Godbole, a simple housewife who is a fantastic cook known for her delicious homemade sweets, especially Laddoo. She has a husband named Ram and two children studying in school: a daughter named Swapna and a younger son named Sagar. Her husband and children often mock her for her inability to speak English and make her feel inferior. Her life takes a turn when she is invited by her sister and niece to her niece’s wedding in New York, USA, one month before the wedding to help them in preparation for the wedding. She travels to New York and feels highly underconfident and inferior when she cannot speak and communicate in English. She decided to join an English learning class secretly. Over there, she meets a group of individuals who have come to learn English, including their teacher, whom she befriends. The story also shows a handsome French classmate falling for Shashi, admiring her innocence, simplicity, and authentic self. Their friendship increased her confidence and affected her self-acceptance positively. She learned English and gave an amazing and heartfelt speech during her niece’s wedding in English that shocked her husband and children, and she earned their respect. The story represents the beautiful journey of a homemaker who learned to become more than just someone’s wife or mother. She learnt to create her own identity and rise above her weaknesses; it’s the journey of a woman who proved her worth and learnt to love herself. Her speech was an empowering and heartwarming speech where she addressed how she has gone through personal growth, and learning English was an achievement for her, inspiring the audience with her journey of self-acceptance and personal growth, making the audience feel connected to her journey of self-discovery and empowerment.   

Raazi (2018)  

Raazi, directed and written by Meghna Gulazar and co-written by Bhavani Iyer, is a movie starring Alia Bhatt, who plays the role of Indian spy Sehmat Khan. The movie is based on an Indian novel, ‘Calling Sehamt’ by Harinder Sikka. Sehmat Khan is part of a family from a military background; the story takes place in the 1970s. Her patriotic father tells her he has arranged her marriage with a Pakistani military man. She must marry him, spy on his family, and send valuable military information to India. She was reluctant at first but eventually agreed. After extensive training to become a spy, she married a Pakistani officer. His family was very welcoming and loving. Soon, she became fond of them and her husband. Raazi is the story of her sacrifice and patriotism. Sehmat dealt with dangers and had to murder members of her in-law family to keep her cover safe. She struggles between being a good wife and a spy for her country. Sehmat delivered the valuable secretive information to India, but it was at the cost of her in-laws’ family and husband. She faced a lot of danger and had to betray the husband and family she loved for her country. After delivering the information, she was left with no family and pregnant with the child of her husband. Her sacrifice saved India from attacks. Sehmat was portrayed as a fierce, intelligent and emotional woman. Raazi is a critically acclaimed movie. Alia Bhatt did justice to the role, portraying the courage and sacrifice of Sehmat Khan with utmost sincerity and inspiring the audience with her bravery and patriotism. 

Lipstick Under My Burkha (2016) 

Lipstick Under My Burkha tells the story of four women dealing with their problems in life. It is a feminist movie that delves into women’s self-identity, sexual desires, and empowerment in a very conservative society. This movie is written and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava. The movie’s four main characters are Usha Bauji, Rehana, Leela, and Shireen. The movie stars Ratna Pathak as a 55-year-old matriarch woman known as Usha Bauji in her locality. Plabita Borthakur as Rehana, a Muslim college girl who dreams of becoming a singer and desires to wear Western clothes but is forced to wear a burkha; Konkona Sen Sharma as Shireen, a housewife who secretly works as a door-to-door saleswoman, sexually and emotionally abused by her husband and Aahana Kumra as Leela, a beautician who has an affair with her secret lover Arshad who is a wedding photographer, her dream is to travel the world. Usha Bauji explores her sexual desires and identity even at the age of 55; after having phone sex with her swimming instructor Jaspal under the alias of ‘Rosy’, Jaspal identifies it was her at the party later and blames her and informs her family members who insult her and kick her out of the house. 

Rehana dreams of becoming a singer, idolizing Miley Cyrus, and hides posters in her room. She wears the burkha to college but removes it in college and wears jeans and a top under it. She steals a dress from the mall for a party and explores her feelings by going on a date. She is a rebel who also protested against the rule of no permit to wear jeans. She is caught by the police in the end for stealing from the mall, bailed by her father, and warned. her father forbids her from going to college and asks her mother to look for a groom. Shireen’s husband sexually and physically abuses her, and she gets multiple abortions as her husband refuses to wear protection; she works as a saleswoman in secret and yearns for freedom. Shireen gets offered a promotion and a full-time job. She finds her husband cheating and warns the woman he was cheating on her with; after finding that out, her husband rapes her and warns her. Leena, working as a beautician and in a secret relationship with Arshad, gets engaged to Manoj, an arranged marriage by her mother. She learns her fiancé is not looking for love but a mundane wife and tries to elope with Arshad. After finding out about her sex tape with Arshad, Manoj calls off the wedding, and Leena is shamed for her actions by her family. Each woman, the victim of their situation, shackled by the stereotypes and limited by the untold rules of the conservative nature of society, faces the consequences of their actions and realizes how tough it is for a woman to want or dream something in such a society. The story explores the sexual desires and yearning for freedom and affection in the life of a woman.  

Queen (2014) 

Starring Kangana Ranaut, Queen is a movie based on a 24-year-old Punjabi girl, Rani Mehra. This critically acclaimed movie is directed by Vikas Bahl and written by Chaitally Parmar, Vikas Bahl Parveez Shaikh, and Anvita Dutt Gupta, who wrote the Dialogues. The story follows Rani Mehra, a dramatic, bubbly and good-natured girl who is about to get married to her fiancé Vijay. Two days before their wedding, Vijay calls Rani and calls off the wedding, saying that his lifestyle has changed after living abroad and that Rani wouldn’t be a good match for him because of her conservative habits. After getting disheartened, Rani decides to go on their pre-planned honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam alone instead of cancelling it. After arriving in Paris, she explores the city, gets in trouble with a police officer and a robber and befriends a french-spanish-Indian descent girl, Vijayalakshmi, who encourages her and takes her on a Paris tour. Rani has a lot of fun with her, and Vijayalakshmi helps her regain confidence and spark in life. Rani bids farewell to Vijayalakshmi, and then she travels to Amsterdam, where she finds out that she is sharing a room with three men: Taka from Japan, Oleksander from Russia, and Tim from France. After hesitating, Rani agrees to share the room; she befriends them and explores the city and many other places with them. They go to a pole dance bar where Rani meets a Pakistani girl named Roxette/Rukhsar, whom she quickly befriends. She has a lot of fun with the new people. Vijay tells her he is interested in her after she mistakenly sends a selfie in modern attire instead of Vijayalakshmi in Paris; he arrives to meet her and talks aggressively with her in Amsterdam. She earns money by winning a cook-off selling Gol Gappe and shares an Indo-Italian kiss with Marcello, the restaurant owner. Rani explores her identity and desires and learns to enjoy life on her own terms; she finds happiness and gains independence and confidence. After returning to India and meeting Vijay and his family, she returns the engagement ring to him and calls off the idea of marriage. She thanks him for helping her find herself and walks off with a confident smile. The moral of the story is that everything happens for a reason; sometimes, some things don’t happen because something better is waiting for us; it shows that a man cannot decide a woman’s worth; there will be many others in the world who will appreciate her real self, it is a story of self-discovery and empowerment, independence and finding joy in life in any circumstance.  

Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) 

Gangubai Kathiawadi is a highly acclaimed biopic of Gangubai, a prostitute who did wonders for betterment in the condition of the brothels and prostitutes. Starring Alia Bhatt as the main lead (Gangubai), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and written by Utkarshini Vashishtha and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the movie displays the life of Gangubai. Formerly known as Ganga, a 16-year-old Gujarati girl from a barrister family in Kathiawad dreamed of becoming a Bollywood actress. Her boyfriend Ramnik deceives her by promising her a Bollywood career under his aunt Sheela’s guidance in Mumbai. She elopes with him to Mumbai, and he leaves her at the brothel in Kamathipura. Forced to become a prostitute, with her boldness and confidence, she fights for the labour rights of the prostitutes. She befriends Mafia leader Rahim Lala, a powerful and feared figure by everyone. He declares her his sister after she demands justice after getting brutally abused by Shaukat, a goon whom Rahim brutally beats as punishment. Gangu earns the respect of other prostitutes and becomes their madame after the death of Sheela. She treats prostitutes as humans and with respect, kindness and love. She fights for their rights and stands as a candidate in elections against a transgender Raziabai, with whom her rivalry begins. She works for the betterment of women and fights for the allowance of children of prostitutes to study in school. Journalist Hamid admires her work, helps her fight this, and records her story, publishing it in a magazine. Soon, she gave a very inspiring speech in front of the media at a feminist meeting held at Azad Maidan, arranged by Hamid and gained the agreement of the audience; she met the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru and asked for the legalization of prostitution. Nehru agrees to set up a committee to investigate the issue and prevent the brothels of Kamathipura from being vacated. She won the elections and is now celebrated for her work and contribution to social activism. The movie is an inspiring story of a woman who decided to turn the tide, took matters into her own hands with courage, resilience and smartness, challenged social norms, fought for justice and built a supportive community of women. The story highlights women’s empowerment. The movie received both positive responses from critics and audience, earning various awards.  

Conclusion 

Cinema influences and represents various unspoken and untouched aspects of life. The movies we discussed are some of the best movies revolving around women, written by women and made for women, an inspiration for all. These movies teach us a great deal about various subjects and leave a lasting impression on the audience. Make sure to add them to your watch list or re-watch them again; it would be easy to call them masterpieces of cinema.