Apocalyptic desires and possessing the world through the gaze

Satyajit Ray’s Charulata

Authors

  • Devapriya Sanyal Jawaharlal Nehru University

Keywords:

Sexuality, Gender, Charulata, Cinema, India, Female gaze, Satyajit Ray

Abstract

Whilst cinema certainly propagates social change as a signpost of dominant ideologies and prevalent values in society, it may also be a means to establish resisting positions, and here I examine the dynamics of ‘looking’ versus ‘to be looked-at-ness’, as it were. I attempt this through a reading of Satyajit Ray’s Charulata and problematise Laura Mulvey’s notion of the 'male gaze'. Ray’s film, in fact, seem to pre-empt this with the ‘female gaze’. This, I argue, differs because it is discerning and critical, and it is through this that the woman at last comes into her own.

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Published

04-Jul-2020

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Apocalyptic desires and possessing the world through the gaze: Satyajit Ray’s Charulata. (2020). The South Asianist Journal, 7, 71-81. https://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/southasianist/article/view/4275