Sex Positivity of Satyajit Ray’s Women: Their Cinematic Journey Towards the Ancient Indian Heritage

Abstract

The article shows how Satyajit Ray’s women resist the sexism that comes from colonialism and reach back into a more sex-positive Indian heritage, particularly Chakras and Tantric philosophy of life. This is particularly important in correcting the way imperialist ideology misrepresented gender relations in India to justify British rule and how the misrepresentation has continued in the name of nationalist movements in post-independent India. The article focuses on a selection of Ray’s films. It stresses the themes (and their deviation from their original sources) used by Ray to make his point obvious and, at the same time, not very shocking to the traditional Bengali audience of his time. This article also focuses on how the sex positivity of ancient India is manipulated by the colonial hangover and the confusing nationalist ideas that have developed of late into limiting the sexual and social rights of women and how Ray’s cinema resists it in a delicate yet bold manner by visualising the markedly conflicts in both of his female and male characters by awakening their sexuality to the ancient Hindu vision of life.