Filmmakers, scholars on why the female police officer's femininity and agency matter

In a pivotal scene from the police procedural series Dahaad Sonakshi Sinharsquos Anjali Bhaati finds resistance at the doorstep of a criminalrsquos house The fierce police officer is being refused entry by the father of a serial killer who is the seriesrsquo main antagonist played by Vijay Varma Not because Bhaati may find incriminating evidence in the housemdashSwarnakar Senior stops her in her tracks because of her casteThe treatment meted out to Bhaati is no different from the way in which Sanya Malhotrarsquos Mahima Basor is received in the house of an MLA in the Netflix film Kathal Basor is the investigating officer assigned to a case of missing jackfruits dear to the MLA played by Vijay Raaz who grimaces when she dares to step on a carpet in his houseSanya Malhotrarsquos Mahima Basor examines cases with a kind of clarity that her colleagues simply donrsquot possess PicFacebookBhaati and Basor are the latest in a long line of Hindi pop culture heroines who proudly wear the uniformmdashbefore them came Meera Deshmukh Drishyam Shivani Shivaji Roy Mardaani and Vartika Chaturvedi Delhi Crime These protagonists are tied together by their sense of duty and bravery often in the face of genderbased violence and brutality With Deepika Padukone and Kareena Kapoor Khan set to make entries into the Singham franchise what emerges are diverse depictions of the female police officer shaped not just by filmmakersrsquo visions but also femininity and female agency in a difficult worldPallavi Rao Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia says that the centering of a feminine presence in the law and order genre which is underrepresented is what stands out Particularly for the ways in which these characters make or struggle to make a mark ldquoThat struggle is interesting in a maledominated space which is still hostile to women stakeholders such as female litigantsrdquo Rao explains ldquoIn the West too the female officer has gained popularity through shows such as Castle or The Fall but in India she is imagined as the nurturing intuitive copmdashsomeone attuned to human nature with an element of maternal or sisterly protectiveness These are the ways in which the female face of justice is imaginedrdquo Sinharsquos Anjali Bhaati is aware of what her rights are and what is due to herIn Kathal a satirical drama directed by Yashowardhan Mishra Basor cuts through her colleaguesrsquo and superiorsrsquo laziness and lack of accountability by thinking on her feet She examines cases with a kind of clarity that they simply donrsquot possess this is what prompts her to chase the story of a missing girlmdashthe daughter of an ordinary farmermdashwhich is dismissed by another officerldquoI wanted her to be empathetic about the case she is trying to solverdquo says Mishra of his multidimensional protagonist ldquoWe found in our research that female police officers tend to deal with cases of crimes against women with a lot more sensitivity and urgency compared to their male counterparts The research shattered many of our preconceived notionsrdquoYashowardhan Mishra and Ruchika OberoiThe writerdirector leaned greatly into the research he and his team conducted on women in the force Basorrsquos approachable nature is guided by his finding that the police too want to be approachable to the public ldquoWe wanted her to be real and sensitiverdquo he adds ldquoThe film depicts real problems which need real solutionsmdashand the solution isnrsquot always filmy or typicalrdquoMishra was certain that Basor should be more than just a police officer and more than the case she tries to solve In Malhotrarsquos portrayal we donrsquot see the masculine exterior that is characteristic of other depictions ldquoI love how she wears her femininity In the prep we did with Malhotra we met police officers and some of them we noticed wore lipstick on the job Therersquos no need for her to act masculine or aggressive just because shersquos in the police her job isnrsquot about brute forcerdquo Mishra explainsWhile Basorrsquos character was crafted based on true stories Dahaadrsquos protagonist was moulded by both research as well as the makersrsquo aspirations for herSinharsquos character who is trying to find 27 missing women in Rajasthan is called Bhaati sahab by her juniors She also rides a motorbike and enjoys a secret sex life Director Ruchika Oberoi says that Anjali Bhaati is empowered in some ways and not in others ldquoWe imagined Anjali as someone who has the courage to speak to her superiorsrdquo Oberoi says ldquoHer father had great belief in her and she has a lot of faith in herself which shows in her mannerisms She does what she sees as being right she doesnrsquot pay heed to the moral compass of those around hermdashshersquos above itrdquoIn making Bhaati the eyes through which we see Mandawa the Rajasthani town where Dahaad is set we learn about how its marginalised are treated Oberoi says that she and the writers didnrsquot want it to be a series where a male protagonist solves problems faced by female victims ldquoWe wanted a character from the same milieu The facts of the case are in front of the other officers too but they donrsquot see them the way Anjali doesrdquo the director saysRecalling Hema Malinirsquos Andhaa Kaanoon and Rekharsquos Phool Bane Angaray Minakshi Bujarbaruah research head at Civic Studios says that the female police officer has long been a part of Hindi cinema The emergence of such ldquostrongrdquo characters is a consequence of a paradigm shiftmdashof filmmakers and writers envisioning women beyond conventional roles That being said these characters must be examined based on the place they find in the larger narrative ldquoIt is important to look at them by the depth and complexity of the character development the choices they makemdashwhether at all they are able tomdashand the characterrsquos overall arc to the larger plotrdquo Bujarbaruah explainsShe adds that the profession of the character alone does not define the power and agency they possess ldquoWhile a Sonakshi Sinha as SubInspector Anjali Bhaati or a Shefali Shah as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi portray a certain degree of power and agency in their roles they also experience their share of societal scrutiny stemming from gender stereotypesThe hurdles that Basor and Bhaati encounter arenrsquot just related to the crimes theyrsquore investigating In one scene Malhotra is at the receiving end of suggestive remarks from another officer who goes as far as to comment on her figure Bhaati who adeptly narrows down leads and is the only one who correctly estimates the cause of the crime is not always taken seriously by superiors For both these women the respect and authority the uniform brings has its limitationsldquoShe has managed to earn respect through her rank as an officermdashor at least she thinks she hasmdashbut society does not afford her this respect all the time The vardi is not the solution for everything some problems are deeprooted She has to fight her way through those instancesrdquo Mishra saysYet the professionmdashand the way these characters have been writtenmdashis also taking them to places where other women of their stature cannot be Oberoi notes that given Bhaatirsquos social background her government job is an empowering life change ldquoAt the same time she is many steps ahead of and different from many of her colleagues She is aware of her rights of what is due to hermdashand she demands thatrdquo the director says ldquoShersquos not ready to give up that space to those who feel she doesnrsquot belong Shersquos a person who loves challenges she also feels that if she doesnrsquot set an example who willrdquoThese meticulously etched characters give the audience an unvarnished glimpse into what policing involvesmdashespecially the everyday challenges of female officers ldquoTheir portrayal helps humanise the people they are based onrdquo Bujarbaruah says ldquourging the audience to look at their struggles emotions and complexities They also emphasise realities like the overworked and understaffed police system with a high caseload and the need for reforms and better policies in a country like IndiardquoRao observes that many characters who wear the uniform are seen as agents capable of shaking up entire systems ldquoTake for example interrogation scenes where the female protagonist is more appealing and effective than her male counterparts Itrsquos the feminisation of a profession to see what a woman can bring to itrdquo she explainsIn eliciting audience empathy for these characters is pop culture promoting an uncritical view of the police force Mishra says that when working on this subject there is the risk of the glorification of gratuitous violence which he wanted to steer clear of ldquoBasor manages to find her way without using brute force which we see in a lot of Hindi cinema We wanted her to find justice through Constitutional means and dignityrdquo