There are a lot of men who, when confronted with a mafia boss and a platoon of goons ready, willing, and able to pump their quarry full of lead, simply make for the exit. Most men would deny this, but most men would also do it. Survival instinct kicks in, and they flee. It isn’t necessarily something to be ashamed of, but it is something to note when mentioning Preity Zinta. Preity Zinta is a Bollywood superstar with an outspoken demeanor, lovely features, a charming and dimpled smile, and the apparent guts of a lion. Despite clocking in at an average 5’5” and having all the appearance of a delicate Indian nymph, Preity Zinta is the only Bollywood star to ever stand up to the terrible “Bollywood” mafia, earning her the title of “the only man in Bollywood.”
Really, though, why should her bravery be considered only a “man’s” role? Can’t women be just as brave and empowered as their male counterparts? Of course- history is full of that sort of thing. Look at Joan of Arc, who battled valiantly for a cause and died in the process. Look at Queen Artemisia, a powerful queen in the ancient Mediterranean who fought alongside her men in battles and managed to earn the respect of the Xerxes, King of Persia, who famously declared upon seeing her in action, “My men have become women, and my women men.” (Though this was due to the Queen ramming one of her own allies in her haste to flee a losing fight; Xerxes wrongly misinterpreted it as an impressive move against the opposition on her part.) And, look at one of Preity’s own forerunners, the Princess Jodhaa who found herself forced to marry the Mughal emperor Akbar in the early days of a consolidated India. Akbar was a Muslim, Jodhaa a Hindu, and since he was the emperor and, moreover, her husband, she was socially required to change religions for him. Nonetheless the determined princess refused, throwing the empire into chaos but eventually consolidating it together as Akbar, out of respect for his beautiful and courageous wife, declared equality for all religions, a move the predated Western religious ideology by over a hundred years.
History lessons aside, there are very few other candidates I can think of as so glamorously leading the charge towards righting social wrongs other than Preity Zinta. The high profile actress managed to land a column on the BBC website where she famously spoke out against the abuse of Indian women. In an eloquent and impassioned appeal she wrote, “”Incidences like [groping] take away a woman’s dignity, her space and her freedom … why [is] the state is so helpless in protecting the women[?] Why should women feel unsafe in a country which had an internationally revered woman prime minister?” Such statements could have led to her ruin in the male-dominated world of Bollywood, yet she said them nonetheless and has received deserved accolade, particularly from the women of her country.
