More than an Indian teen shrew: Postcolonial and transnational feminism in Isi Life Mein

Abstract

This essay explores a Bollywood movie entitled Isi Life Mein (dir. Vidhi Kasliwal, 2010), which exploits The Taming of the Shrew as a play-within-the-film for the first time in Bollywood, and even as an intertext on some occasions. Although apparently a mere teen movie, this article sheds light on the importance of the Indian location, which invites postcolonial readings of the text. Following a postcolonial framework, it is the aim of this essay to rethink how The Taming of the Shrew is caught up and shaped in another culture. The film experiments with, and offers a parody of Shakespeare and his text, to the extent that they are both “reborn.” The movie also reflects on Indian modernity characterized by endless migration and diaspora. This essay equally explores the significance of using The Taming of the Shrew, since cultural debates concerning gender relations are involved. The movie adds to the multiple cultural products that rewrite the play’s ending. One ofIsi Life Mein’s main attractions lies in its ability to challenge patriarchy explicitly. Interestingly, postcolonialism and feminism are entangled in Isi Life Mein, providing new understandings of the Shrew and, ultimately, the Bard.