In the 1950s and 1960s, she was Sati Savitri. Today she drinks, smokes and speaks her mind. However, she still acts as an item girl — there are vulgar lyrics and indecent camera angles, these do not empower women, they objectify them. There is a difference between celebrating sexuality and surrendering to male gaze. Arjun Rajabali, at Screenwriters’ Conference, 2013 says, ‘ In almost every film, women characters are shaped entirely from men’s point-of-view. They are there to excite his fantasies, fulfill his needs, pose romantic challenges and generally boost the male protagonist.’ Indian films in the 1960s cast women as stereotypes — acquiescing wife, forgiving mother, sacrificing for all the men in the family. There was parallel film making — Shyam Benegal and Mahesh Bhatt. In  the mid-1970s and 1980s, they gave a rebellious streak to the heroines, e.g. Ankur, Bhumika and Arth. Still, women were preferred in the traditional roles — Indian audiences rejected Sharmila Tagore’s Charitraheen, Zaheera in Call Girl or Nanda in Naya Nasha. Reel characters changed with changing times. Anushka Sharma in Band Baja Baraat is closer to today’s woman.