The Indian woman's body: a tool for nationalist discourseThe Bollywood film genre has recently become a popular means of entertainment for non-resident Indians , because as well as Western audiences. Bright colors, spontaneous dance numbers and other alluring factors may have contributed to the popularity of Bollywood films. However, for the NRI, Bollywood films represent a connection to the motherland; it brings a sense of nostalgia through cultural and traditional practices. In Chutney Popcorn and Bride and Prejudice, we see how these cultural practices and traditions are preserved through the use of the woman's body. A woman's body is a tool for producing the norms of Indian national discourses; Yet the woman's body can be used to resist such norms. Norms of rituals, betrothal, marriage, procreation and family creation are tools used by Indian society to maintain the heteronormative discourses of the nation. To understand how these films produce and challenge such norms, we must take a critical look at how the Indian woman's body is used to achieve these goals. Scholars such as Anupama Arora and Christine Geraghty have analyzed Chutney Popcorn and Bride and Prejudice, respectively considering the Indian woman's body as a tool for reproducing and contesting heteronormative discourses of the Indian nation. Following the technique used by Arora and Geraghty, we view these films with a critical eye. First of all, it must be recognized that Chutney Popcorn and Bride and Prejudice are different films that address similar issues. Chutney Popcorn is an independently made film about a lesbian NRI living in New York. While Bride and Prejudice is a multi-million dollar film, created by renowned director Gurinder Ch...... middle of paper ...... agent of his own will; meaning they made decisions for themselves without “falling under pressure”. Reena is the lesbian woman who is the agent of her own will unconstrained by expectations and culture; however, in doing so, we see her longing for her mother's acceptance. Her pregnancy symbolizes both resistance and conformity, as pregnancy is a gendered expectation for women; but the fact that she is a lesbian complicates things. His sexual orientation constitutes a means of resistance to the idea of ​​a heterosexual family. Lalita, on the other hand, follows the norms of Indian culture but she becomes the agent of her own will by choosing to love Darcy, a white man rather than Mr. Kholi, an American NRI. Both characters' ability to be their own agents provides a tool to end the use of a woman's body as a tool to promote oppressive norms..