Katrina Kaif: If you say 'women should not dance in films', that's an

Katrina Kaif: If you say 'women should not dance in films', that's an ignorant comment

IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY, YOU CAN WATCH IT AT http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2017/11/aamir-khan-snake-charmer-171103081738587.html

FILMMAKER'S VIEW

By Nina Maria Paschalidou

The way popular culture influences our lives and empowers women has always fascinated me.

While filming my last documentary, Kismet, which explored the impact of Turkish soap operas on women in the Arab world, I was first introduced to Aamir Khan, Bollywood's greatest film star, through an article in Time magazine. The media called him the "snake charmer", because of his power and the effect he had on people.

Time ranked Khan as one of the most influential men in the world - a man who was trying to change the situation for women in India through a TV show called Satyamev Jayate.

In December 2012, the tragic incident of the gang rape of Jyoti Singh Pandey, a 23-year-old student, in a Delhi bus resulted in a public outcry against Bollywood. Many people argued that Indian popular culture is characterised by misogyny and that Bollywood must assume responsibility for the message it sends out.

I wondered if there truly was a connection between Bollywood and its portrayal of women and rape.

Bollywood is India's largest driver of mainstream popular culture, producing more than a thousand films per year. It is estimated that every week approximately 90 to 100 million Indian viewers go to the cinema to watch films and millions more watch Bollywood films on their TV screens. Over 85 percent of cable television operators routinely screen two films a day through their local channels.

Since the 1960s, rape scenes in Bollywood films became common and part of most films catering to predominantly male audiences. They were introduced as a plot device to give the hero a cause to fight for, or to eliminate a character from the plot (the victim almost always committed suicide).

Aamir Khan fans are holding a portrait of the superstar. Bollywood stars in India enjoy God-like status [Al Jazeera]

A survey found that of all Bollywood films produced from the 1970s to the 1990s, seven out of 10 included a rape scene.

Khan became the first Bollywood star in India to openly talk about rape, female foeticide, dowry payments and domestic violence when Satyamev Jayate premiered in May 2012. By attempting to uncover the reasons behind the phenomenon of rape, he challenged men's attitudes to women and Bollywood's tradition of glorifying violence.

Like soap operas, Bollywood films are not pure entertainment. They have the power to create or break stereotypes and taboos. And with Khan at the helm of the movement, Bollywood is changing: directors are offering more dynamic roles to women, and male actors are taking on more sensitive roles.

I followed Khan for a period of three years, all the way from the making of the TV show to the filming of his recent film, Dangal, a women's empowerment film which was released in December 2016 and became the highest grossing Bollywood film ever.

Khan's life is characterised by the juxtaposition of pleasing the Indian men and women who watch his films and campaigning for those who participate in his show.

In The Snake Charmer, I focused on the personal and deeply touching moments which occur when these two worlds collide and tried to capture Khan's transition from a Bollywood star into a powerful agent of social change.

I also tried to capture the truth, and often asked myself "is this guy for real?" I will leave this to the audience to decide.

Parveen Khan was attacked by her husband and mutilated after refusing to abort her unborn daughter. She told her story on the first episode of Satyamev Jayate [Al Jazeera]