#Male socialite telecom heir movie#

The gender bias is clear: her father, also a self-made businessman, shouts his achievements from the rooftops but is unwilling to acknowledge his daughter’s.Īyesha, though, is secretly taking the monthly birth control pill. When told about her appearance in Forbes, her father only replies that next year his son’s name will be featured, and later announces in front of the entire gathering that his only wish is for her to give him a grandson (but not a granddaughter, of course). She is a self-made businesswoman, but everyone around her just wants her to have a baby, including her husband and her parents. However, she has to endure a controlling husband who “allows” her to run her business, along with barbs from her mother-in-law about talking business at the dinner table and never being at home. Ayesha is a successful businesswoman who sold her jewellery to start a travel company that landed her in the Forbes top 10 entrepreneurs list (just roll with it, this is Bollywood). For a Bollywood heroine, her clothing is not overly sexualised, and she is a well-developed female character.

#Male socialite telecom heir movie#

It would be very difficult to talk about every insight the movie provided into the gender roles of the Indian upper class family, so I’ve chosen to focus only on the key elements.Īyesha is far and away the most interesting of the Mehras. The movie is filled to bursting with subversive one-liners and feminist characters that are completely out of the ordinary for a mainstream Bollywood film. This is one of those cases, however, where the Bechdel Test doesn’t paint a true picture. The movie just about passes the Bechdel Test with a fleeting conversation between Ayesha and her cousins Divya and Putlu about what Divya wants to do with her life, now that she has graduated from college. Shenanigans predictably follow as many of the Mehras’ family and friends are forced together for a two-week period. The movie’s premise is the Mediterranean cruise to celebrate the 30th wedding anniversary of Kamal and Neelam Mehra.

Last, but certainly not least, Aamir Khan voices the Mehras’ dog, Pluto, who narrates the film and comments on the hypocrisy of Indian families. The cast is rounded out by Ayesha’s sexist and controlling husband, Manav (Rahul Bose) Farah (Anushka Sharma), Kabir’s love interest and a dancer on the ship, and Sunny (Farhan Akhtar), Ayesha’s one-time best friend and love interest. The line-up includes the narcissistic father, Kamal (Anil Kapoor) the socialite/housewife mother, Neelam (Shefali Shah) the prodigal son and heir, Kabir (Ranveer Singh) and the quietly extraordinary daughter, Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra). By Bhargavi Vadeyar, as part of the Dirty Picture Projectĭil Dhadakne Do is the story of the Mehras, a dysfunctional, Delhi high society Punjabi family, the kind where the women talk in overly sugary tones and the men run businesses and play golf.