Synopsis

“Of course, girls should progress, come forward. As long as they do it within limits it’s OK, but when they become… un-limited, then something bad is bound to happen and then they blame us boys…” So, still want to be a feminist? “Don’t get me wrong, I believe in the principles. But calling myself a feminist would be too much of label, you know?” This witty, eclectic cult film introduced a fresh new language in Indian documentary. In it, a half-seen narrator called Fearless has a random encounter in a chat-room, which sets her off on a a journey “to see what feminism has done in the world”. She encounters feminists who recall the songs and actions of the Indian women’s movement, yuppies who discuss their modern marriage, a policeman writing films for ‘women’s upliftment’, women shopping at a bra sale, Bombay’s first woman cabbie, and a chatroom full of quirkily named women – Atilla_the_Nun, ChamkiGirl and Devi_is_a_Diva, and others who argue and fight and laugh about the meaning of feminism. Using a personally reflective tone and playfully eclectic form, the film mixes non-fiction and fiction, to go beyond the basics of gender equality and slogans about liberation to ask questions about how feminism is actually lived out: why must women lead double lives, being feminist but not saying they are. How do we remain politically engaged as individuals who will not join groups? If feminism changes the way we live, then do we change the meaning of feminism as we live it? And then how do we separate true feminists from false ones? Will X-ray vision work better, or female intuition – or is there a common set of principles in this multiply interpreted philosophy? How do we make sense of love and anger, doubt and confusion, the personal and the political in this enterprise of pushing the boundaries, of being un-limited, which we call feminism.