Hatke Women-Centric Films To Watch This New Year Weekend To Kickstart 2022

2022 New Year weekend films: We're kicking out this horrid year and kickstarting a new one, with fresh hope in our heads and great films on our watchlist. The incoming year begins relaxingly with a weekend that can be spent with the feet up and a movie playing before us. And there's an old adage that believes a year replicates how you began its first day. 2022 may turn out to be better than 2021 after all!

Though 2021 wasn't the best year for the big Bollywood industry, it was a stellar one for all the content that could be streamed online. Several women-centric titles made it to the fore (and how!) with themes that are rarely attempted for their perceived scandalous streak. These heartwarming movies not only tackled those subjects but also did so responsibly and empoweringly. And what better note than that to bring in the new year?

New Year Weekend Films To Put On Your Watchlist:

1. The Great Indian Kitchen

A film that won immense critical acclaim upon its release, The Great Indian Kitchen is a Malayalam drama that goes deep and bold into exploring the patriarchal monotony of women's lives that are spent either cleaning up after their husbands or cleaning their kitchens. Starring Nimisha Sajayan, the story tracks her life after marriage into a traditionally patriarchal household that depends on the woman to run it. Through the lead character, the film tackles significant issues of menstruation and female sexual pleasure too.

Suggested Reading: Why The Malayalam Film The Great Indian Kitchen Is Winning Hearts

2. Pagglait 

Sanya Malhotra-starrer Pagglait was a ray of sunshine in the otherwise dull year that Bollywood films had. Dealing with the story of a widow who lost her husband just months into marriage and who, try as she may, cannot bring herself to feel any grief, this black comedy focuses attention on how emotion is socially constructed to fit acceptable norms and the flawed definitions of who a 'good wife' is supposed to be. “Jab ladki log ko akal aati hai na, toh sab unhe pagglait hi kehte hain,” Malhotra's character says knowingly (and powerfully) in the film.

3. Sara's 

A feel-good Malayalam romcom, Sara's is the story of a young career-focused woman, played by Anna Ben, who is in no hurry to become a mother, as society expects all women of her age to be. In fact, that she doesn't want to have children is something she has known since a young age. Her dream instead is to become a film director but there is extensive criticism society has in store for her for breaking convention. Sara's has a mature take on difficult issues concerning social ostracisation and judgment linked to gender especially for childless women.

Suggested Reading: Geeli Pucchi: How It Changed Things For Women

4. Skater Girl 

A culturally diverse Indian-American film with a largely desi cast at the centre of it, Skater Girl is about a young girl in rural India whose passion for skateboarding sparks off big dreams for her. The film introduces debutante Rachel Sanchita Gupta as the young lead, also starring Waheeda Rehman and model-actor Amrit Maghera. This coming-of-age sports film is set against the context of a girl trying to weigh the odds of defying social expectations that seek to tie her down to traditional domestic chores.

5. Ajeeb Daastaans 

Ajeeb Daastaans, a Netflix anthology comprising four shorts, deftly explores women's passions, sexualities, motivations and emotions in various contexts of love and life. Starring greats like ">Shefali Shah and &t=231s">Konkona Sensharma, the film - especially Ankahi and Geeli Pucchi headlined by the two actors - does a good job of opening important conversations on loveless marriages and same-sex relationships. The anthology straddles many genres, including psycho-thriller, and also significantly advances into the intersectional space of social issues.