The concept of gender determines the biological sex of an individual by birth. However, according to the understanding of gender, there are basic codes for men and women, and people act in accordance with these codes. Orientalism is an imitation or depiction of directions in the Eastern world. In terms of cinema, it is the creation of an Eastern atmosphere with the Eastern representation and images in the films. Sports, common name for all body movements that are performed by obeying certain rules and techniques, are beneficial to physical development and aim to have fun and are open to everybody regardless of sex. Traditional gender stereotypes posit that women do certain kinds of sports. So, films that depict this extraordinary contrast are remembered for their subjects. The film Dangal depicts the father-daughter relationships of an Indian family living in an Eastern cultural tradition and a female wrestler with international status, unlike a family shaped according to oriental codes.
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There is no doubt that the distinction between men and women is one of the first existential distinctions. In time, the fact that people started to live in groups and started social life revealed the cultural structure and the differences between cultures. Some cultures unite around women and are matriarchal; others have created patriarchal codes by attaching importance to men. Which gender will exist in social life, the distribution of roles, the jobs they will do are listed from the most difficult to the simplest. This ranking is seen in all areas of social life. In this sense, sports and sports activities are differentiated for men and women. Power and violent sports are listed as male-oriented sports associated with power and violence. Not only in sports, but also in some professions, men have been ascribed to men such as truck or truck driver, but exceptions are also seen at this point. While the development of mass media has helped to uniformize these roles, cinema has also served as a common propaganda. While storytelling stereotypes and deviations about gender roles, it has the ability to express and represent what exists and what should be. Cinema existentially connects the audience in a different direction when it treats the ordinary, but when it processes the extraordinary, it both draws attention and is effective in breaking stereotypes.
In this context, Dangal, directed by the famous name of Bollywood cinema, Amir Khan, tells the story of a young girl's success in wrestling in the international arena despite the ridicule, denial and all financial and moral difficulties. Women and wrestling sport are seen and presented as two opposite concepts. The protagonist of the film, the father, hopefully and insistently wants to have a boy because he is a wrestler of his own and wants to have a son with whom he will raise wrestlers just like him. At this point, the study starts with the concepts of culture and gender because being a female wrestler is a cultural problem. It is a part of a cultural identity.
In the research part of the study, a reading will be made for the film with the descriptive analysis method, which is among the qualitative research methods, with the keywords of Dangal, culture, gender, female wrestler and the presentation of extraordinary women in Bollywood cinema. How a wrestling woman is regarded within an eastern culture will be watched is the main assumption. The result of the study is that the female character of the film is considered outside the general gender judgments, and a frail child gains a gold medal in a sport which is identified with the men in the international arena over time. In many studies in the literature, it is seen that male and female characters do not act outside of gender roles and do not go beyond stereotypes. In the movie Dangal of Bollywood Cinema, a female character different from gender is represented. This study is also important in defining gender roles since in a man dominated area a little girl gains success.