Author: Syeda Nida Hasan
Abstract
This paper examines various depictions of the female body on screen in Haseena Atom Bomb (dir. Saeed Khan, 1990), by a close reading of the picturization of the three main female characters: Haseena, Shabana and Reshma (with an emphasis upon Haseena). The paper explores the physicality of these characters, the various factors that accompany or aid the depiction of their bodies on screen (including the roles of camera, editing, and mise-en-scène), and the broader narrative themes intertwined with the depiction of the female body in a rape-revenge film. It also investigates the female body’s various transitions from being recipient of violence to a perpetrator of violence and vice versa, discussing the implications of these various representations alongside each other—and whether they allow for us to observe changing representations of the female body onscreen in Pakistani cinema.
Keywords
The Female Body, Pushto Horror Movie, Rape-revenge Film, Hyper-masculinity, Male Gaze
