Reframing Power through Resistance: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Gender in Mirch Masala

Abstract

Films set in rural contexts reveal how power continues to operate through social hierarchies, gender roles, and cultural practices after political independence. This qualitative study examines power relations in Ketan Mehta’s Mirch Masala (1987), analyzing gender hierarchy, colonial legacies, and resistance within patriarchal society. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Feminist Film Theory, this study explores how cinematic discourses constructs and challenges major power structures through visual symbolism, character conversation and narrative progression. Using Fairclough's (1989) three-dimensional model, the study examines micro-level linguistic and non-verbal exchange, meso-level-institutional practices of the authority and control, and macro-level socio-political ideologies that are embedded within the film discourse. Scene-oriented interpretation and thematic coding reveals patterns of domination, submission and defiance, especially focusing on the representation of the collective agency of women against oppressive forces. The findings suggest that Mirch Masala not only serves as a story of rural struggle, but also as a discourse of empowerment, defining power as resistance and solidarity. This research underlines the role of visual narratives in shaping public consciousness about gender, class and social justice, demonstrating cinema as a transformative medium of socio-political criticism.

Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Feminist Film Theory, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Resistance and Solidarity, Women’s Collective Agency.