Mother India. Meghe Dhaka Tara. Mahanagar. Guide. Aandhi. Zubeida.These are among the most celebrated films in Indian cinema ? and all were made by men. But do they look at women the way male cinema so often does?In The Male Gaze Redefined, National Award-winning film critic Shoma A. Chatterji examines how male directors ? Mehboob Khan, Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Vijay Anand, Gulzar, Shyam Benegal and others ? have constructed the women at the centre of their films. Drawing on Laura Mulvey’s foundational theory of the male gaze, and pushing well beyond it, Chatterji asks whether Indian cinema has found ways to give women not just visibility but voice, weight and inner life. The answer, as this book reveals, is more complex and more compelling than either celebration or critique alone would suggest.For film lovers, students of gender and cinema, and anyone who has ever watched these classics and wondered what they are really saying about women ? this is essential reading.