Dahaad To Aarya: Era Of Angry Women On Our Screens

While anger is perceived to be a very masculine and powerful trait in men, it’s often seen as a negative trait in women. When a man is angry, society attaches it to passion, leadership, and courage, but when a woman is angry, she is considered to be hysterical, rebellious, and overreacting. What is the relationship between temperament and a person’s gender? Isn’t anger a basic human emotion?

For generations, women have been raised to be soft, submissive, and silent. All they got back in return was being taken for granted and oppressed. There is always someone or something trying to snatch away women’s agency over their lives. Women’s privacy, safety, boundaries, rights, etc.—everything is breached just because of their gender. Won’t that anger women?

If channelling their anger would allow women to lead a safe and happy life and make their dreams come true, why shouldn’t they be angry? Society would call them unconventional but if that’s what it takes to lead life on their own terms, so be it!

Rise Of Angry Women Characters

With the advent of OTT, Indian TV series have been redefining the portrayal of female characters. Let’s revisit some well-written female characters whose anger made them achieve great heights.

Sonakshi Sinha as Anjali Bhatti (Dahaad)

Sonakshi Sinha made her terrific OTT entry as Anjali Bhatti, a sassy, self-sufficient, fearless, and confident cop. She is unapologetic and doesn’t get intimidated by anyone. No man, no community, and no norms can hold her back from doing what she wants. She resides in a remote village in Rajasthan, but her badass trait makes her stand out and thrive in a male-dominated profession. She’s a dedicated cop who fights for justice and does the right thing even if it means straying away from the rules.

Dimple Kapadiya as Rani Ba (Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo)

Appearances can be deceptive, and that’s one of the best ways to describe Rani Ba. On the outside, she is an innocent elderly woman running an all-women cottage industry. Little does the world know that behind closed doors, Rani Ba is the queen of a complex and sophisticated drug cartel. She, along with her two daughters-in-law and daughter, are feisty women who prefer to shoot first and then talk. Rani Ba is extremely intelligent, calculative, manipulative, and powerful, and she completely owns the show.

Sushmita Sen as Aarya (Aarya)

Sushmita Sen as Aarya took the viewers into a whole new world, showing how, when push comes to shove, mothers would do literally anything to keep their families safe. Following her husband’s death, Aarya, a mother of three children, wants to get away from her family’s dirty drug business. But destiny has other plans for her, and she is put in a position to embrace her new life as a badass mafia queen. She is confident, fierce, bold, independent, and resilient. She would go to any extent to keep her children safe. A true female alpha who manages to shut off the so-called sigma males with the snap of a finger.

Priya Bapat as Poornima Rao Gaikwad (City Of Dreams)

Poornima Rao Gaikwad is the daughter of politician Amey Rao Gaikwad, who loves his daughter but is a staunch misogynist. Initially, a stay-at-home mother leading a simple life, Poornima decides she wants everything that was once denied to her just because she was a woman when her father is about to name his successor. Poornima has huge political aspirations in the male-dominated political field. She turns into a fierce, determined, and independent woman who will go to any extent to get what she wants.

Shefali Shah as Vartika Chaturvedi (Delhi Crime)

Vartika Chaturvedi, DCP South Delhi, is a strong, earnest, and strong-willed cop. She also possesses a sensitive and vulnerable side, which makes her empathise with her cases; she takes them personally and fights for justice like it's her own battle. Despite the police force being a boys league, Vartika has proven her prowess several times, which has helped her carve a niche for herself. She channels her anger and frustration productively to nab the perpetrators time and again.

Suggested Reading: This Women’s Day Let’s Normalise And Validate Women’s Anger

Image Credits: IMBD, Free Press Journal, and Deccan Herald