Bollywood

BOLLYWOOD: LET HEROINES BE FUNNY, TOO

by Monojit Lahiri April 22 2025, 12:00 am Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins, 3 secs

Comedy Roles for Bollywood Heroines? Kya Joke Mara!! Monojit Lahiri wonders why good, solid comic roles are not written for our A-list heroines, like in the West. What's stopping us?

Despite immense talent and proven box-office appeal, Bollywood continues to sideline its A-list heroines when it comes to meaty, comic roles. Unlike Hollywood, where women-led comedies thrive, Hindi cinema largely sticks to outdated stereotypes, casting women as dramatic leads or romantic interests. This gender bias not only limits storytelling but also deprives audiences of fresh, feel-good content. With actresses like Vidya Balan, Kangana Ranaut, and having Sridevi showcased brilliant comic timing, the demand for well-written, women-centric comedy is real. It’s high time Bollywood breaks the mould and lets its leading ladies own the laugh track.

Two things prompted this story. One, my tireless, killjoy, devil’s advocate buddy forever slamming uncomfortable truths my way and inviting response. Two, a statement by actor Vidya Balan relating to the subject.

The first cut to the chase in a flash. With a straight face, the badmash went, “Sirjee, ek baat batayiye.” Why this glaring absence in this space? It’s not as if we don’t have actresses with proven comic flair who have demonstrated their ability to propel a movie toward box-office success. Why are our powers-that-be so dumb and tunnel-visioned, completely blind to this potential gold mine?”

Vidya Balan Speaks Up

Actor Vidya Balan joins in: “I lament the lack of comic roles for actresses, which is why I am so into social media with quirky posts. In Malayalam films, you have Urvashi Chechi—my favourite. The possibilities are endless, and there is a definite audience base for intelligent, women-based comic films in B-town.”

As always, my panga-champ pal had a point. Despite B-town’s quantum leap in technology, marketing, and smart categorization of screen platforms, when it comes to taking risks with content—flying without a safety net, hitting paths seldom explored—this is an area of deafening silence!

As the classic saying goes, you won’t know if you don’t go, so cut loose and make a start, giants Dharma & YRF! Give the current flavour-of-the-day stuff like dark stories of crime and thrillers a tiny break, and give this feel-good genre a chance, an opportunity.

Vidya—along with many other actresses—would love to throw their dupatta into the ring and check out. Remember Dirty Picture? Risqué, over-the-top, even outrageous maybe, but didn’t it sweep the polls in terms of both BO and awards, placing Ms. Balan right on top of the heap? We opened this issue out to some voices, and this is what they said…

Tradition vs. Transformation

Film critic Saibal Chatterjee attributes this to the 500-year-old parampara and Indian tradition. “This hallowed belief cuts both ways. While the richness is there, the fixation of women having specific roles allocated to them—mother, sister, wife, daughter—and the uncompromising requirement of playing them out in letter and spirit remains sacrosanct. Breaking out of these roles to play comedienne/joker is unthinkable!

While thriving in social media times and hitting all the digital platforms with abandon is cool, as are naughty jokes among close friends, to be openly brazen, to exhibit free and frank comic flair physically on a public platform—whether theatre, TV, screen—is totally cliché diva territory, politically undignified, even scandalously incorrect and shockingly inappropriate… Log kya kahenge? Kaun shaadi karega? (What will people say? Who will marry them?)”

Tokenism and the Missed Comic Boat

Ace scriptwriter Apurva Asrani (Shahid, Citylights, Aligarh) concurs: “Chatterjee is spot-on. We have this Mother India complex and to either break free or cut loose is… blasphemy!

Interestingly, it’s not that we lack female comic talent. Hema Malini in Sholay and Seeta Aur Geeta, Sridevi in Chaalbaaz, Mr. India, and tons of other movies, even Juhi Chawla, Moushumi Chatterjee (Angoor), and Kangana Ranaut (Queen, Tanu Weds Manu), have exhibited fine comic flair garnering audience appreciation.

But conditioned, chauvinistic, and tunnel-viewed values from some die-hard misogynist, sexist, biased people have disallowed this exciting track to come centre stage and embrace a new category. So these remain patronizing tokenism, also-ran tracks, not to be taken too seriously. Sad, but true.”

The Vaz Perspective

Indian-born, bred, and buttered New York-based comedian Radhika Vaz brings her own comic spin to the debate. Wowing New York’s male-dominated comedy circuit with sexually frank, irreverent female howlers, Vaz seems to have cracked the glass ceiling and attracted fans galore.

Stalking the stage, she unleashes one gem after another… “I believe that the number one reason for a woman to walk away from a spontaneous sexual encounter is… unkempt body hair. Anywhere—and we all know we have loads of nooks and crannies for it!”

This in-your-face, funny, naughty exploration of what it is like to be a woman in a ribald fashion drew U.S. audiences. Can it work here, in similar fashion? A niche, elite, anglicized and westernized, metro-centric audience, perhaps, but its appeal is doubtful across the wider spectrum of Indian society. Chhee chhee, ganda, so ghatiya! Kitni besharam hai yeh aurat!

Vaz believes that it’s about “every behavioural pattern women have been told to avoid, proving to the world that being funny is not ladylike and won’t get us a man; being demure, quiet, and allowing them to think they are the funniest guys in the room, will!”

The Final Laugh?

So there you are. Be it the wisecracks on India’s most popular comedy show – THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW – or any other [popular] stand-up performance, chances are they are mostly men-driven affairs.

Ellen Terry? Tina – Hey? Drew Barrymore? Even Meryl Streep in one of her earliest She Devil? Whoopi Goldberg? Sarah Silverman?

Kya joke mara, by God ki kasam!!