Looking At The Manic Pixie Dream Girls Of Bollywood We Grew Up Watching

By Shriya Simran Pradhan | 1.2k |

She is spirited. She is not like other girls. She doesn't use makeup. She can give long monologues about the meaning of life and what to do with it at any given moment. She is an imagination filmmakers love to flaunt onscreen.

Manic Pixie Dream Girls (MPDGs) have long been a big part of the movie industry even before the trope was termed by Nathan Rabin in 2005. Rabin said that MPDG "exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures." Popular both in Hollywood, Bollywood and other prominent film industries, the trope is humanizing live and let live. Let's take a look at some of the many popular MPDGs that we have grown up watching.

Geet From Jab We Met

Okay, I am a great Geet fan myself, but I mean, who else? Geet is like the poster girl for all MPDGs- outspoken, beautiful, lively and wild. In the first part of the movie, her only job seems to be the light that guides Aditya in his dark phases and her motive to marry her boyfriend whose name shall not be said (or is remembered). However, Imtiaz Ali does provide some character development in the second phase of the movie, but all in all Geet's sole purpose seem to act as an arc for Aditya's development.

Laila from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Katrina Kaif's Laila too falls mainly under this category. Having no- exactly NO character development of her own, Laila's entire point was to provide a one-for-the-ages love story to Hrithik Roshan's Arjun and nothing else. She delivers enriching quotes like "A man should be in a box only when he is dead", teaches Arjun the meaning and purpose of life along with some underwater diving, and that's it.

Kalpana from Ghajini

Your eyes will be scorched if you looked long at Asin's radiant Kalpana. Beautiful, bright, flawless and with makeup on point- Kalpana was probably every millennial woman's idol. Oh, to be the only good thing in a scarred man's life. No offence but wonder if she did anything except make people happy even after being dead.

Akira from Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Jiya Jiya Re Jiya Re should and was her slogan. Though Akira does have a career focus as opposed to some others in the list, she still hardly has any story to hers. She was the binding force for Samar and Meera, with no backstory and no development whatsoever. Lively and bubbly and hopeful seemed her only personality traits.

Tara from Tamasha

Seems unfair, but yeah- it's again the MPDG helping the hero find his purpose. Except for her business, Tara hardly has any other growth. She is the same as she was four years when she first met Ved. Even what she does in her business is unclear, except that she is good in it. She is happy from the beginning to the end, the only alterations being provided by Ved. Her own family history is never explored and literally, no else storyline of hers is told.
The trope has been called out for being sexist and unrealistic. What do you think of this trope? Tell us about it in the comments.
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