Women’s Day 2021: Bollywood movies that nailed women empowerment

A cult classic sports film, Chak De! India was one of the early Bollywood films around the theme of women empowerment. Starring Shah Rukh Khan, it follows the story of a hockey coach training the women's hockey team to become a winning team.

The Kangana Ranaut starrer certainly took the Bollywood industry by storm. Directed by Vikas Bahl the movie Queen is considered by many people to be an influential feminist film in recent times. It explores the journey of a woman who is ditched on her wedding but nevertheless decides to go on her honeymoon alone.

A social thriller directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, the film takes on gender stereotypes attached to ‘modern’ women for which it received critical acclaim. The film also won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. It sheds light on the fact that while men are allowed to be independent and callous, women are punished for the same.

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, this biographical sports drama is a refreshing look at women’s physical strength. Loosely based on true events, the movie revolves around an amateur wrestler who trained his daughters to become India's first globally recognised female wrestlers.

This 2016 film had run into quite a bit of controversy during its release. Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, the movie had bold female characters and spoke about taboo subjects which, again, challenged the gender stereotypes in society.