In the aftermath of the public awakening that occurred after the Delhi rape, Indian society has had a chance to take a step back and introspectively reflect upon the current standing of women across the country. How did we get where we are? And how do we change? These are just a few of the questions that are being asked by a number of Indians.
In the immediate response, legal steps, such as anti-rape legislature, have met limited success; laws may change, but people's attitudes have not. Instead, India must look towards influential institutions that shape cultural thought patterns to accomplish the desired results.
One such establishment would be Indian cinema. Movie stars, not politicians, are looked upon with God like reverence, so who would be in a better position to influence the people than the movie stars themselves? In an industry where sexualization and objectification runs rampant, a new attitude towards females would send a clear message about the direction in which India should head. I am not the first person to make this observation; since December, many people have highlighted the objectification of women in movies as a fault that needs to be changed if we are to move forward. As critically acclaimed director Zoya Akthar noted, “It [Indian Cinema] does fuel ideas about objectifying women. For example we have scenes in our films where the male hero woos a woman by stalking her. Indian cinema is the only defining popular culture in this country so we have to take more responsibility.”
However, dialogue about using cinema as a tool of change has been largely limited to the onscreen portrayal of women, usually discussing the use of item girls and the lack of independent female heroines. Whilst these two points are definitely of the utmost importance, a third, equally salient point has gone largely unnoticed: sexist language in Music.
Movies, whether in cinema or on TV, enjoy a large numbers of viewers, but their respective soundtracks are listened to by even more people.
Recently when I was listening to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Chahat”, I was shocked by the severity of the language used in what comes across as a harmless love song. The lyrics to the song go as follows:
Hindi:
main to bas teri chaahat mein, chahoon rehna sada
main to bas teri kurbat mein, chahoon rehna sada
saaya bhi tera main, hone na doon juda..
main tay kar liya..
tere ishq pe, tere waqt pe, bas haq hai ik mera
teri rooh pe tere jism pe, bas haq hai ik mera
bas haq hai ik mera, bas haq hai ik mera..
English:
In your love only, I want to live always,
In your vicinity only, I want to live always..
I'd not let even your image go away from me,
I have decided..
On your love, on your time, I only have right..
On your soul and your body, I only have right..
I only have right..
There’s no doubt that this is intended as a harmless, cute, love song. However, the language chosen to paint the image of love is highly disturbing and distressing. The first thing to grab my attention was the idea that the wooing male has sole right to a woman’s love (tere ishq pe, tere waqt pe, bas haq hai ik mera). This lyric seems to espouse the idea that a man should have proprietary rights over a woman’s feeling; that it is his decision, not hers. The woman seems to have both no agency and no voice in the decision making process. Furthermore, the idea of deciding to keep yourself in the vicinity ( Main toh bas teri kurbat mein chahoon rehna sada) of the woman without any form of consent (the man in the song decided, regardless of the woman’s preference) is, well, creepy and stalkerish. These are not the only two moments that can be picked on; there are other moments too, but these are just the ones I chose to look at.
The biggest issue lies in how the kind of language demonstrated in this song has become a universally accepted way of expressing feeling. Just take a quick look at the top YouTube comments and this point becomes instantly clear: "My fav song," writes one youtube user, whilst another writes "Awesome song. Really heart touching". Whilst these are just 2 comments, the amount of up votes they have received is indicative of the general consensus about this song, and the language used in it.
In order for progress to occur, a complete reversal must take place. A language of stalking and unanimous decision making must be rendered unusable. Lyrics must be changed to represent a more bipartisan, healthy kind of love. If we want to carry out societal change, especially in an age where pop culture defines how we think, we must use pop culture (music in particular) as a tool to positively, not negatively, influence the way we proceed. People will, for the most part, love and behave as pop culture informs them to, so it is up to the creators of music to use the weapons at their disposal to carry out the necessary change.
Ravi
In the immediate response, legal steps, such as anti-rape legislature, have met limited success; laws may change, but people's attitudes have not. Instead, India must look towards influential institutions that shape cultural thought patterns to accomplish the desired results.
One such establishment would be Indian cinema. Movie stars, not politicians, are looked upon with God like reverence, so who would be in a better position to influence the people than the movie stars themselves? In an industry where sexualization and objectification runs rampant, a new attitude towards females would send a clear message about the direction in which India should head. I am not the first person to make this observation; since December, many people have highlighted the objectification of women in movies as a fault that needs to be changed if we are to move forward. As critically acclaimed director Zoya Akthar noted, “It [Indian Cinema] does fuel ideas about objectifying women. For example we have scenes in our films where the male hero woos a woman by stalking her. Indian cinema is the only defining popular culture in this country so we have to take more responsibility.”
However, dialogue about using cinema as a tool of change has been largely limited to the onscreen portrayal of women, usually discussing the use of item girls and the lack of independent female heroines. Whilst these two points are definitely of the utmost importance, a third, equally salient point has gone largely unnoticed: sexist language in Music.
Movies, whether in cinema or on TV, enjoy a large numbers of viewers, but their respective soundtracks are listened to by even more people.
Recently when I was listening to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Chahat”, I was shocked by the severity of the language used in what comes across as a harmless love song. The lyrics to the song go as follows:
Hindi:
main to bas teri chaahat mein, chahoon rehna sada
main to bas teri kurbat mein, chahoon rehna sada
saaya bhi tera main, hone na doon juda..
main tay kar liya..
tere ishq pe, tere waqt pe, bas haq hai ik mera
teri rooh pe tere jism pe, bas haq hai ik mera
bas haq hai ik mera, bas haq hai ik mera..
English:
In your love only, I want to live always,
In your vicinity only, I want to live always..
I'd not let even your image go away from me,
I have decided..
On your love, on your time, I only have right..
On your soul and your body, I only have right..
I only have right..
There’s no doubt that this is intended as a harmless, cute, love song. However, the language chosen to paint the image of love is highly disturbing and distressing. The first thing to grab my attention was the idea that the wooing male has sole right to a woman’s love (tere ishq pe, tere waqt pe, bas haq hai ik mera). This lyric seems to espouse the idea that a man should have proprietary rights over a woman’s feeling; that it is his decision, not hers. The woman seems to have both no agency and no voice in the decision making process. Furthermore, the idea of deciding to keep yourself in the vicinity ( Main toh bas teri kurbat mein chahoon rehna sada) of the woman without any form of consent (the man in the song decided, regardless of the woman’s preference) is, well, creepy and stalkerish. These are not the only two moments that can be picked on; there are other moments too, but these are just the ones I chose to look at.
The biggest issue lies in how the kind of language demonstrated in this song has become a universally accepted way of expressing feeling. Just take a quick look at the top YouTube comments and this point becomes instantly clear: "My fav song," writes one youtube user, whilst another writes "Awesome song. Really heart touching". Whilst these are just 2 comments, the amount of up votes they have received is indicative of the general consensus about this song, and the language used in it.
In order for progress to occur, a complete reversal must take place. A language of stalking and unanimous decision making must be rendered unusable. Lyrics must be changed to represent a more bipartisan, healthy kind of love. If we want to carry out societal change, especially in an age where pop culture defines how we think, we must use pop culture (music in particular) as a tool to positively, not negatively, influence the way we proceed. People will, for the most part, love and behave as pop culture informs them to, so it is up to the creators of music to use the weapons at their disposal to carry out the necessary change.
Ravi