Voyeuristic Study of Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani

Abstract

This research paper examines the role of cinematography including camera angles, lighting and framing to foreground voyeurism in Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani. This research builds a bridge between a Western film theory and a subcontinent film. It sheds light on the implicit manners in which camera and lighting are employed together to produce voyeuristic effects on the bodies of Mastani and Kashibai. The researcher has conducted this research which is qualitative in its nature by visually analyzing mise-en-scene of Bajirao Mastani through the lens of Laura Mulvey’s voyeurism. This research accentuates the intricacies of multiple camera shots and intensity of lighting to present women in voyeuristic manner by taking their close-up shots and presented their body parts in chunks to make them visually appealing for the male spectators who forget that there is a gap of screen between them and those females while sitting in the dark cinema hall.