Early last week, a poster of Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming film Dhaakad was released, showing the actor firing a machine gun in the spy thriller. In a statement to the media, Ranaut said that the film is a “one-of-a-kind female-led action film” that would be a “turning point” for women in Indian cinema. Around the same time, Taapsee Pannu posted pictures of her physical transformation for the lead role of a sprinter in the upcoming sports drama Rashmi Rocket. Kajol, dressed as an Odissi dancer, too, had shared the trailer of her web debut with the Netflix original, Tribhanga, a drama revolving around three women belonging to different generations in the same family.
As Bollywood emerges from the ruins of a crushing year and steps into the warm embrace of the next decade, an interesting statistic gives reason for cheer: 2021 already has about 20 scheduled films or web shows that have a strong female presence and gripping narratives that go beyond a typical Bollywood director’s dream-girl stereotype.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
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