Heroine in the Narratives of Pakistani Cinema

Abstract

This paper explores the portrayal of Pakistani women in the narratives of Pakistani film and investigates whether those portrayals are close to real life. Starting from a chooi-mooi girl to the brave Sara of Shoaib Mansoor’s Verna who takes revenge of her rape, Pakistani heroine has come a long way from being depicted mostly as passive, dependent on men, and enmeshed in relationships or housework1 to an active, independent and a rebellious individual. This paper explores how the story worlds of different heroines, although presented in a heightened reality, are in fact reflective of real problems and desires. The stylistic device of lifting these story worlds of heroines to an above-reality level allows the privacy to acknowledge they exist without feeling publicly challenged.2