Hindi Film ‘Astitva’ : Aditi and her Journey of Self-Discovery

Authors

Dr. Anuradha Deepak

Abstract

Media possesses an important position in contemporary world and its role cannot be under-estimated. Films being the visual media are significant in themselves that while entertaining the audience, become a tool for the portrayal and production of certain ideologies. The film taken up for analysis for the present paper is the film Astitva that is a 2000 Hindi film directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. The film is about the identity of a woman named Aditi, a quintessential middle class Indian wife devoted to her home and family. She is educated and intelligent too but she lives a marginalized life as she has no say in any of the decisions taken for the family or even her ownself. She is simply taken for granted to cater to the needs of the family and in the process, she herself remains oppressed. Her life takes certain twists and turns and she comes to the realization that she can no more allow herself to be victimized. Confined within the boundaries of four walls of home and prescribed social norms, she realizes that she too desires to look to the ‘open’ spaces and she chooses to move beyond the margins set for her. The film is about her journey of self-discovery. Rather than remaining a docile and submissive wife and mother who is often disrespected, she chooses to assert her right to a life of dignity and leaves the family to begin her life afresh.

Keywords

Film, identity, oppression, marginalized existence, dignity

Hindi Film ‘Astitva’ : Aditi and her Journey of Self-Discovery. Dr. Anuradha Deepak. 2016. IJIRCT, Volume 2, Issue 2. Pages 1-5. https://www.ijirct.org/viewPaper.php?paperId=2309018