LADYMEME: Devasena and Draupadi!
DEVASENA
I’m not as annoyed by the way the narrative treats her as by some of the other examples (except…. this is not saying a whole lot) because the way the final battle is presented as Bhalla vs Devasena showdown rather than Mahendra vs Bhalla, regardless of what’s physically happening. But. Let her fight post-interval, film! I mean, I know she’s either pregnant and/or incapacitated from years of malnutrition, but that’s no reason that once her husband is dead, she should need her son to come back and save her (which really incorporates a gross “a woman needs a male relative to protect her,” smh). So, yes, give Devasena the chance to end Bhalla and Bijju’s miserable existence herself like she deserves.
DRAUPADI
SAME, but even worse. In the original Mahabharata, Draupadi loses many of the fiery speeches that she gets in most adaptations. GIVE HER THE CHANCE TO DEFEND HERSELF–or, make at least someone other than Krishna actually listen to her anger and her grief : one of the saddest scenes in the entire Mahabharata is her miserable speech when the Pandavas, after everything that’s happened, are considering peace talks (I say this as someone who is usually pro-peace and sympathize with the need to avoid the disaster the war will be–but at the same time, I can also understand Draupadi’s hurt and rage when it seems everything she’s worked towards for 14 years is for nothing.
