Namak Isk ka

These babies loom large on me even in other forums.

I was reading something about the female gaze today and was thinking of how in film theory, the camera itself is considered to be a voyeuristic male gaze. Consider this:

https://youtu.be/RrAmE9IKZI0

It's one of the most breathtaking and even 'sexy' scenes I have ever seen, but at the end of the day, it's male consumption of the female body, it's voyeuristic.

If we look at European art analysis, many people hold that the female nude body was painted with the gaze of the audience in mind— which was automatically assumed to be the cishet white male.

On the other hand, if you read medieval European poetry, gazing was considered the first step to pyas. It wasn't just sin to have sex, but gazing itself was an act of pleasure, deriving and satisfying sexual desire, romantic love. You could also look at scopophilia where the inherent shame of looking at someone is overcome by the pleasure derived from it. (Think p-rn on a very crude level).

Thing is there's ample archive of heroes looking/appreciating/loving/objectifying/desiring women in media. That's how women characters are shown. Zoom in on eyes. Zoom in on lips. Zoom in on the buttocks. Even when it's more novel and full of love like the office photoshoot men get that freedom to openly gaze.

The narrative just tells us that the woman is attracted to the man, but it's never actually shown. What does she find attractive in him? His eyes? His voice? What? I think of how the shots of abs and biceps of ml are shown in movies but only to establish their alphaness ().

I think of this scene where Khushi for the first time explicitly shows sexual desire for her Arnav, his physicality. I love this scene. The camera follows Khushi's gaze here. The biceps, the sweat, the water dripping down his hair and face.

https://youtu.be/fyAFMVR4Irs

(Ignore the dub please, I couldn't find a better video on YouTube.)

And y'all know how how much I loved them during Namak Isk ka. Both of them looked like a snacc.

I will read the post and get back in the evening.

Cheers..

Most part of the IPKKND, Arnav and Khushi focused on each other's' eyes. I used to think that it was a result of societal norms in India. I have just seen a few Indian dramas and movies, so it will not be a wise approach for me to compare them with western productions. However, so far as my observation goes, almost no nudity is shown in Indian dramas and movies. Even, when everyone was totaly naked at sense8, only the Indian character was in lingerie. As a result of that sexual desire was shown through eyes, which was portrayed briliantly in Arnav and Khushi's case. I wish we could have seen more sexual tension between them, esipecially from Khushi's perspective.

Originally posted by: aysemLDG

Most part of the IPKKND, Arnav and Khushi focused on each other's' eyes. I used to think that it was a result of societal norms in India. I have just seen a few Indian dramas and movies, so it will not be a wise approach for me to compare them with western productions. However, so far as my observation goes, almost no nudity is shown in Indian dramas and movies. Even, when everyone was totaly naked at sense8, only the Indian character was in lingerie. As a result of that sexual desire was shown through eyes, which was portrayed briliantly in Arnav and Khushi's case. I wish we could have seen more sexual tension between them, esipecially from Khushi's perspective.

Okay, so full nudity gets censored here anyway, but it's not like we have no nudity in Indian cinematic tradition. Indian daily soaps are million miles behind Indian web series and where Bollywood stands now. It caters to mainly the dominant sections of society, so nearly all protagonists are fair-skinned, upper-caste, and belong to a particular community. There are many regressive tropes that were prevalent in Bollywood in the 70s that are still employed in ITV.

IPK was path-breaking to even centre around romance and sexuality than patriarchal norms. But even it was so awful in certain parts.

Originally posted by: Bluegrass

Okay, so full nudity gets censored here anyway, but it's not like we have no nudity in Indian cinematic tradition. Indian daily soaps are million miles behind Indian web series and where Bollywood stands now. It caters to mainly the dominant sections of society, so nearly all protagonists are fair-skinned, upper-caste, and belong to a particular community. There are many regressive tropes that were prevalent in Bollywood in the 70s that are still employed in ITV.

IPK was path-breaking to even centre around romance and sexuality than patriarchal norms. But even it was so awful in certain parts.

I remember discussing about fair skin bias in an Indian commercial, in one of global marketing lectures I attended. In that commercial, the woman was getting married and her daughter from her first marriage was hugging her soon-to-be step-dad. The woman was neither fair-skinned nor too dark. As if the producers wanted to break the mentioned bias but was not ready to break it completely.

Arnav and Khushi were the only few who actually looked at each other and their eyes conveyed/spoke volumes. They were able to convey desire so beautifully.

It is not easy and Barun and Sanaya pulled it off with ease. Like you said it was very much evident in Namak Ishq ka.

In the scene you posted, not just Khushi all the other men were also in awe of Arnav.😊

Cheers..

Ok this was such an enjoyable post! I literally loved how you brought in film theory and spoke about Khushi's gaze. I think what I also liked in the way the male and female gaze was in IPK. The physicality, intention and sexual tension was high in certain points and maintained solely through the foreplay conducted in stares and silence.

Coming to your scene - yes. That moment was phenomenal because it was one of the few moments where we were seeing Arnav's sexual appeal to Khushi. And as you beautifully noted, we are seeing his physicality through her eyes. From his biceps, chest, arms and that slow moment where he pours water on himself - she is completely taken aback. Like most of us ;)

It was actually a powerful moment, again unfortunately in doesn't have an impact it should considering what other things are happening in the Gupta house (I hated her putting him in the center of the town for a bath).

Although it's something to think why Khushi's sexual desire is undercut with humor whereas Arnav's is built further with tension. Just thinking you know....

But yes that scene was epic!

res-

will come back to this! interesting topic and I'm so glad you brought this! I love talking about female gaze

Originally posted by: dramebaaz.af

res-

will come back to this! interesting topic and I'm so glad you brought this! I love talking about female gaze

Oh come back to this sooner than later!

Originally posted by: IPodcastKKND

Ok this was such an enjoyable post! I literally loved how you brought in film theory and spoke about Khushi's gaze. I think what I also liked in the way the male and female gaze was in IPK. The physicality, intention and sexual tension was high in certain points and maintained solely through the foreplay conducted in stares and silence.

Coming to your scene - yes. That moment was phenomenal because it was one of the few moments where we were seeing Arnav's sexual appeal to Khushi. And as you beautifully noted, we are seeing his physicality through her eyes. From his biceps, chest, arms and that slow moment where he pours water on himself - she is completely taken aback. Like most of us ;)

It was actually a powerful moment, again unfortunately in doesn't have an impact it should considering what other things are happening in the Gupta house (I hated her putting him in the center of the town for a bath).

Although it's something to think why Khushi's sexual desire is undercut with humor whereas Arnav's is built further with tension. Just thinking you know....

But yes that scene was epic!

Oh yes, absolutely! The cringeworthy trigger for the wedding track also kind of undid Namak Isk ka a bit.