A postcolonial feminist representation of motherhood in recent Bollywood sports movies

Abstract

Contemporary Bollywood sports dramas grapple with the tension between cultural expectations of motherhood and the aspirations of women sportspersons. These narratives challenge biological determinism and societal pressures defining a ‘good’ mother as they strive to carve their individual identities. Amidst neoliberal expectations of intensive motherhood and helicopter parenting, these athletes navigate maternal guilt and ambivalence as they attempt comebacks, often burdened by anxieties about their children. Shaped by a confluence of cultural stereotypes, mythical narratives, and gendered nationalist discourses, maternal figures in Indian society are often reified, obscuring the complexities of their gendered being within a society steeped in patriarchy. Exemplary sports films such as Mary Kom (2014), Saand Ki Aankh (2019), and Panga (2020) represent the lived experiences of women athletes navigating a conflicting landscape where marriage and motherhood are often perceived as the ultimate biological destiny for women. The clash between the roles of mother and athlete unfolds as a narrative tension, where traditional femininity embodies passivity and dependence, while sport champions autonomy and assertiveness, inevitably leading to what Helen Lenskyj terms ‘role conflict’. Caught between selflessness and selfishness, anxiety and ambivalence, these women athletes refuse to conform to the male gaze, rejecting patriarchal expectations of self-sacrificing mothers, dutiful daughters, and unconditionally supportive wives. This paper employs a postcolonial feminist narrative to examine Bollywood films, revealing how seemingly individual choices by sportswomen are situated within broader social hierarchies and power structures. By examining the impact of family support and marital connections on athletes' subjective experiences, this study also questions the gendered narratives of postcolonial sports movies, unravelling their capacity to surpass conventional prejudices against women sportspersons in India.