Desperately Seeking Shahrukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya)
Early Review
This review is the initial impression of our editorial team after reading approximately one-tenth of the book.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in the Early Review might not necessarily have a correlation with the Final Review of the book.
While exploring the desires of different strata of Indian
women in her book, Shrayana Bhattacharya places at the centre of it a sociological investigation on
the rampant social and economic disparity between men and women.
Desperately Seeking Shahrukh is an intelligent blend of an empathetic observation of the lives of
Indian women and an objective statistical analysis of the gendered nature of our economy. Bhattacharya
acknowledges the plurality of the world created in Shah Rukh's films. It is romantic and patriarchal;
idealistic and regressive. Despite this convergence of seemingly opposing views, women yearn for a
man like Shah Rukh for his emotional vulnerability and the lofty romantic standards he sets for his
female viewers. Shah Rukh is a representation of their aspirational identity; their quiet pursuit for
freedom, vulnerability and equity of treatment in personal and public spheres.
Original Title : Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence
ISBN : 9354891934 (ISBN13: 978-9354891939)
Edition language : English
Literary Awards : Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival 2022 (Non-fiction), AutHer Awards 2022 (Non-fiction)
Published : 11 November 2021
Summary
In this path breaking work, Shrayana Bhattacharya maps the economic and personal trajectories--the jobs, desires, prayers, love affairs and rivalries--of a diverse group of women. Divided by class but united in fandom, they remain steadfast in their search for intimacy, independence and fun. Embracing Hindi film idol Shah Rukh Khan allows them a small respite from an oppressive culture, a fillip to their fantasies of a friendlier masculinity in Indian men. Most struggle to find the freedom-or income-to follow their favourite actor.
Bobbing along in this stream of multiple lives for more than a decade-from Manju's boredom in 'rurban' Rampur and Gold's anger at having to compete with Western women for male attention in Delhi's nightclubs, to Zahira's break from domestic abuse in Ahmedabad-Bhattacharya gleans the details on what Indian women think about men, money, movies, beauty, helplessness, agency and love. A most unusual and compelling book on the female gaze, this is the story of how women have experienced post-liberalization India.