In a country where anti-feminist grammar is a part of everyday lingo, those who say it like it is in public forums run the risk of being shunned or misunderstood. But social media’s standing ovation for actor Parvathy Thiruvothu, who recently had the guts to voice her thoughts on films that glorify gender violence, marks a crossroads of sorts.
Without mincing words – and despite host Anupama Chopra’s exhortation later to ‘move on’ from the topic – Parvathy aired her opinion on the misogyny in Arjun Reddy (remade in Hindi as Kabir Singh) in the presence of its hero Vijay Devarakonda at a celebrity round table in Mumbai. In the film, he plays a controlling boyfriend, who even slaps his lady love.
She said, “When a man is being misogynistic and abusive and you show that in a way that incites applause in the audience, then that’s glorification. At the same time, (if) you make the audience think whether he’s done the right thing or not, then you’re collaborating with the audience. There is cinema, there is a dialogue. But the other one is almost spoon-feeding you that this is okay.’
Putting her career choices in the context of her own experiences, Parvathy also said: ‘I remember sitting through such a film in theatre as a teenager and squirming, but at the same time, everyone else is clapping. I was very confused. “Is it normal? Is it okay?” And then it reflected in my personal life too.’
Politically correct
Brave words. Especially given the incoherence around the subject, rendering it almost taboo. Even as she spoke, actor-director Bhagyaraj opined that ‘only because women let men wrong them do they get wronged’. According to him, rapes happen because ‘women let it happen’.
Isn’t he only echoing what the popular sentiment perhaps is? Many are more politically correct and their silence is circumspect, self-preserving. The ripples of damage are too nebulous to be traced back to them by what they did NOT say.
Obviously, women are suffering this damage in real life too, where patriarchy butts into every aspect of their life, be it upbringing, education, domestic violence and downright abuse. The silence is then a vital part of the gas-lighting. To not have an opinion may be seen as careless or boyish, but what it really is is inhuman. Gender inequality lines our lives, it is the very fabric of the planet’s upholstery.
Kerala, in particular, has channeled its chauvinism into celluloid, where man-to-woman dialogues leave no one in any doubt about male ‘superiority’. The toxic masculinity of Mollywood is a brainwash from childhood.
Artists have many responsibilities before them, not least what they owe themselves. Honesty in their dealings with themselves constitute their identity, the truths they present to the world via their art, via their craft.
In tinsel town where everyone is watching their own back and looking out for career opportunities, it is not just refreshing to hear what artists really think, it is a bloody miracle. Amid the simpering and glitter, honesty is a wallflower whom no one asks for a dance.
Shinie Antony is a writer and editor based in Bangalore. Her books include The Girl Who Couldn't Love, Barefoot and Pregnant, Planet Polygamous, and the anthologies Why We Don’t Talk, An Unsuitable Woman, Boo. Winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Asia Prize for her story A Dog’s Death in 2003, she is the co-founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival and director of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival.
Read Shinie Antony's columns here.
First Published: Nov 29, 2019 6:00 AM IST
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