The Female Athlete and Spectacle in Bollywood: Reading Mary Kom and Dangal

Abstract

This paper engages with the representation of the female athlete in Indian cinema. Specific
references will be made to the cinematic portrayal of female boxers and wrestlers in Bollywood to
argue that female boxers and wrestlers are portrayed as ‘masculine’. However, the sportswoman’s
assertion of her femininity in a space exclusively occupied by men leads to ‘gender trouble’. To
enunciate this argument two biopics, Mary Kom (2014) and Dangal (2016), will be analyzed. It
would be observed that when a female boxer/wrestler tries to reinforce her identity, she is either
subjected to criticism or faces failure. However, the argument that sportswomen are termed as
‘masculine’ does not necessarily imply that female athletes aren’t objects of the male gaze.
The explicit sexual undertones which underline the spectacle of a female athlete competing with a
male athlete reinforces gender lines instead of challenging them.