LET'S DECIMATE THIS MOTHER!!!!

April 29, 2023 3:27 PM

I saw a charming little film last night called Polite Society (by Nida Manzoor of We Are Lady Parts). Here is the trailer; you should see it. One of the film's most visually enjoyable sequences is an extended fight scene between various women at an Indian wedding in London where the attendees are mostly in traditional dress.

In the West, of course, "woman kicks ass in formal dress" is an action trope (e.g., Ana de Armas in No Time to Die); I am not very familiar with the vast Indian cinema and was wondering if this is a known trope there. If so, what are some of the most visually appealing examples?

posted by praemunire to Media & Arts (1 answer total)

I don't know much about the topic, but there are action films starring women, e.g. the Hindi films Akira (2016) or Dhaakad (2022), or featuring women fighting, e.g. the Tamil film Kaththi (2014). In traditional dress, there's a fight scene in Jwaala Daaku (1981; Hindi). And it's aiming to be historical rather than tropey, but the concluding battle against the British in the Kannada film Kittur Chennamma (1961) includes many women in traditional dress fighting alongside Rani Chennamma in a more elaborate outfit (cw: plus a problematic representation of Rama Habshi).

But what really came to mind--combining martial arts and comedy with the incongruity of someone fighting in traditional women's clothing--was a scene dubbed into Hindi from the Tamil film Avvai Shanmugi (1996) and a longer version in its better-known Hindi remake Chachi 420 (1997), where the context is different, because both are more or less remakes of Mrs. Doubtfire. Actor/director Kamal Haasan later mentioned having been a longtime fan of Jackie Chan, which seems evident in the film. Further on in it, there's also a more formal dance scene that slightly echoes the fight moves (as well as the Macarena) and has a slow motion bit intended to be visually appealing.
posted by Wobbuffet at 8:56 PM on April 29, 2023 [4 favorites]