Gender Identity in Mr. India

In Mr. India by Shekhar Kapur we follow the story of Arun, an orphaned violinist who runs an orphanage for children in Bombay. Together with the strong-willed reporter and love interest, Seema, and the orphanage nanny/cook, Calendar, Arun unravels the diabolic plot of the foreign megalomaniac Mogambo. The film – which features a number of progressive roles and scenes unique to Hindi cinema – is a landscape of myriad gender identities, and the politics of gender normativity and interrogation are demonstrated in the portrayal of the film’s heroes and villains.

During the film themes of cross-dressing and masquerade serve to challenge the audience to reconceive notions of masculine and feminine identities in modern India. At the start of the film, Arun is pictured completing traditionally feminine roles; he cooks for the children of the orphanage, gets them ready for school, plays music for them, and acts motherly to many of the youngest children. It is only later, when Arun discovers the invisibility watch invented by his father that he becomes the heroic Mr. India and begins to take on a more masculine persona. By acting out more feminine roles, Arun positions himself as a liberated Indian male not bound by traditional notions of femininity or masculinity. When Arun eventually becomes Mr. India his earned power of invisibility acts to further complicate the masquerade. As Mr. India, Arun is no longer a person, but an idea, the common Indian man fighting against foreign intervention.

According to Chakavarty, “Woman… unlike man, cannot change herself at will, cannot adopt and discard identities to signify a wider social embrace. On the other hand, it is her fixity that allows the hero to narcissistically (dis)play his body.” (Chakravarty, 1993) However, the character of Seema in Mr. India demonstrates that women in modern Hindi cinema are just as capable as men to change their identity and act out their transformation. Throughout the film, Seema masquerades as different people in order to infiltrate Mogambo’s evil organization; she poses as a French entertainer to infiltrate one of Mogambo’s many night clubs, and later cross-dresses as a Charlie Chaplinesque-looking man in order to enter a gambling hall. The latter example of cross dressing casts Seema as an androgynous, transsexual character who can appeal to both male and female audiences. Furthermore, Seema’s character is – at times – more masculine than Arun. Seema dislikes children and devotes her life to her career, traits which are antithetical to traditional female roles in Hindi cinema, and while she eventually has a change of heart and falls in love with the Arun’s orphans, her role is never confused with that of a mother, like Arun.

Of the characters in the film Mogambo is the most traditionally masculine portrayal. From his chiseled features and deep voice to his smart military uniform and violent nature, Mogambo embodies the archetypal male form. Mogambo is often pictured carrying a cane, an obvious phallic symbol His Aryan features and accent position him squarely as an “other,” an outside threat to Indian independence. “A notable feature of the male-dominated romantic drama of the post-sixties era is that while the identity of the villain is fixed and self-evident, the proof of the hero’s heroism is that he can change identities at will, if only temporarily and playfully.” (Chakravarty, 1993) Arun has both masculine and feminine attributes. He acts as the avenger, standing up for the rights of the orphans and other common Indians. At the same time, he also takes care of the children of the orphanage by cooking and cleaning for them, and by playing music. As a super villain, Mogambo can never be anything but a villain, and unlike some of the villainous portrayals in earlier Hindi cinema, his storyline can never be anything but evil and tragic.

I couldn’t help thinking that Seema is the more courageous hero character compared to Arun, because she puts her identity at stake. Arun is able to masquerade as Mr. India without revealing his identity, thereby preserving himself and the people he cares about. Seema on the other hand puts her life on the line to uncover Mogambo’s villainous ventures, and therefore opens herself up to retribution from his goons. In every way except the most obvious power differential Seema embodies more masculine, transsexual qualities than Arun, whose identity shifts from feminine to masculine throughout the film. The gender politics of Mr. India demonstrate that it is not just men that have the capacity to shift gender identities, and also highlight the changes in the gender dynamic in modern India.