Bombay Begums: MeToo, menopause, menstruation, sex its all here

‘Bombay Begums’, currently streaming on Netflix, is on the radar of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for the inappropriate portrayal of children in the series. In a notice to Netflix on Thursday, the organisation has asked the OTT to furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which it said it will be constrained to initiate appropriate legal action.

If we talk about the narration of the series, it has thorny female characters that
is the USP of director Alankrita Shrivastava. She along with Bornila Chatterjee
has helmed the project  and one could see
the Buaji from ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’, Dolly and ‘Kitty from Dolly Kitty
aur Woh Chamakte Sitare’ and Tara Khanna from ‘Made in Heaven’ in the series,
writes Anupama Chopra of  Film Companion
while reviewing the series.

Rani, played by Pooja Bhatt, the CEO of a bank, dressed in
impeccable saris, is battling sharks – mostly male – at work and struggling
with her own dysfunctional family. The other mother in the series Lily, played
by Amruta Subhash, is also fighting a tough battle. She’s a
bar-dancer-turned-sex-worker, trying hard to give her only son a shot at a
better life.

Also Read: Acclaimed film critic Anupama Chopra talks about her idea of freedom, feminism

There’s also Ayesha, played by Plabita Borthakur, the
small-town girl trying to make it in the big city. Fatima, played by Shahana
Goswami, Rani’s smart and ambitious associate, who is struggling to have a
baby. And Shai herself, played by Aadhya Anand, a school girl grappling with
her instinctive dislike of her stepmom, the first flush of sexuality, the cute
boy in her class and her longing for her dead mother.

These women might differ in age, class, religion but they
are all toughened warriors in a larger battle against systemic patriarchy,
entitlement and societal barriers.

Alankrita and her co-director and writer Bornila Chatterjee,
along with co-writer Iti Agarwal, understand that women’s bodies are a
battleground. #MeToo, menopause, menstruation, motherhood, sex, adultery – it’s
all here.

The lead women characters of the series lead fabulously
messy lives filled with compromises and regrets. They aren’t always admirable
but they are consistently interesting.

According to Chopra, the narrative gets clunky but the acting
is solid. Pooja ‘s character isn’t afraid of enacting the indignities of ageing.
 Amruta and Shahana get the screen time
they deserve.

The series is about a group of women in Mumbai trying to
live life on their own terms.