Home Journal List Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society Volume 28 Article Details

Female Image and Pakistani Cinema

Abstract

Human history whether it is recorded or not, cannot breath through time without images. The only deciphered information that has travelled from the darkness of history to the contemporary age is through surviving images. So, an image maker is just like a story-teller and no story of this world, even beyond this world, can be completed without the subtle, idealistic yet realistic image of woman. The matter of Indians tales is mostly derived from their mythological taste, which is a usual tradition of nearly all the ancient civilizations. Since Indian mythology revolves around goddesses, which shows the overwhelming status of female image in this part of the world, the image of woman from Ajanta and Elora caves to the Miniature of Gujarati to Mughal miniatures, has been the core feature of male image makers. On the other hand the western part of the globe also relied on the mythology of their gods and goddesses. And there comes the female stronghold in the imagery and images of western convention of image making. Owing to the visual assimilation caused by the cross-cultural influences, many female icons got their place in each mythology. This is because the Indian female image absorbed some western characteristics concerning their goddesses. Modern or contemporary image of female in the subcontinent is crafted on the patterns, the Vedic rhythm might have provided through centuries. Acculturation is another factor, caused by the continuous invasions from Aryans to the Britons, which influenced this female image consequently. When the stationary images, in the early twentieth century, got momentum on a 35 mm film, the female image started to move on the silver screen. At that juncture of time, under thrust of hidden and apparent desires about the femininity, exposure and revelation shaped up this image on concrete grounds which were redone on the cinema hoardings, for attracting of the eyes of trespassers.

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