Shift (her) Focus

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It all started with Draupadi’s laughter.

Duryodhan fell into a pond, mistaking it to be the marble floors of her palace of illusions.

She laughed. He was embarrassed. He wanted to teach her a lesson.

Thus it all began.

December 16^th 2012 a day that India will hopefully never forget. The Delhi Gang Rape and the traumatic marathon media coverage that ensued got me thinking about Draupadi’s laugh. Beyond the lack of safety in the capital, lack of law enforcement, sexual repression and crimes against women,the rape was yet another assertion of patriarchy and manhood. “She, a woman, who is inferior to me insulted me, hence I shall put her in her place,” they seem to have said. The young brave heart’s defiance angered and instigated the perpetrators even more. According to them they were merely setting the balance right. How can a woman be gallivanting on the streets of Delhi with a man alone? How dare she talk back to me? It’s the same reason why a lone woman riding a scooter or a driving a car gets followed and taunted. Women are now usurping successfully what are traditionally considered as male domains, and this is causing a flutter

The recent shootout in Denver, when a young man dressed as the infamous ‘Joker’ trooped into a multiplex and gunned own random public waiting for the screening of’ The Dark Knight Rises’, brings up a pertinent case. Why is the tendency to emulate socially deviant or ‘negative ‘ behavior more prevalent than impersonation of the ‘hero’? The paradox is bewildering. The hero has the looks, gets the ravishing heroine and is venerated by the society for his exploits. Yet we find more Jokers’ and schoolboys inspired by ‘Agneepath’ slitting the throats of their teachers than men in capes running around saving humanity and averting catastrophes.

The many layered and complicated narrative of the Mahabharata has been the backbone of Indian ethos. Stories from the epic have been recounted to instill morals, and have served as bedtime stories about friendship, duty and definitions of good and bad. At times it has also been used to ingrain patriarchy.  Most forms of storytelling; the epics, nursery rhymes or one of our biggest industries and most effective form of storytelling today, films, contain seeds of patriarchy. These messages are subconsciously embedded in the minds of both boys and girls thus rooting gender stereotypes. Most often people are oblivious to the gender discrimination that permeates through their everyday actions. When heinous crimes such as the Delhi Gang rape shake the country one cannot help but wonder if our popular culture had anything to do with it.

The debate on whether life imitates art or vice versa maybe an age old one, but it’s illogical to view the two as separate entities.  Social milieu and popular culture mirror each other; they are manifestations of each other, and if negligent, they may do more harm than good.

Films, the most pervasive and influential form of popular culture today, systematically and subliminally have drilled patriarchal  ‘values’ into the average Indian, through the sermons of our favorite actors. Rajinikanth, who spells out the dos and don’ts and conduct of behavior for women, takes it upon himself to domesticate women who rebel, and ‘behave like a man’. He makes sure that they are put in their place by the greatest punishment that they can get, that of unrequited love. The ladies who do manage to win him over and prance around a few trees in skimpy attire quickly metamorphosis into humble housewives with high neck blouses and saris draping every inch of their skin.

If the hero doesn’t don the role of a moral police, he then becomes the wastrel. The guy who sits outside the roadside teashop, chats with his friends for a living while blowing up packest of cigarettes, and passes lewd remarks at all women, till the girl of his dreams crosses the road. After this life changing moment, the hero develops a new purpose in life; that of pursuing her relentlessly during the day (while dissing her and the entire womenfolk at night, drinking with friends). He hopes that this persistent pursuit of her will bear fruit eventually. And sadly one day it does. The heroine with absolutely no regard for the hero’s credentials gives up (I presume) and ‘falls in love’ with the wastrel who did nothing but stalk her and disrobe her with his eyes. The way to a woman’s heart seems to be through sexual harassment.

It is very disconcerting to see the spate of Tamil films such as ‘ Oru Kal Oru Kannadi’ ,‘ 7g Rainbow Colony’, ‘Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga’ etc that seem to drive this piece of regressive advice to all roadside Romeos. Apparently they have discovered the secrets of a woman’s mind.

There are only two types of heroines, standing at the opposite ends of the spectrum. She is both talkative (or the over used word- bubbly) and mischievous or she is the shy, docile girl next door. There is the daring Phoolan Devis (who have no morsel of emotion) and the ultra shy village belle. And more recently (thanks to Mr. Gautham Menon), there is also the confused urban-educated girl who frivolously breaks the guy’s heart. The lead characters of both his recent flicks, ‘ ‘Vinnathaandi Varuvaaya ‘and a painful NEP (Neethane En Ponvasantham) depicted the fickle minds of girls. “Oh these women are so cold-hearted. They break our hearts without a thought. Poor us” grieve the protagonists. After conveniently placing the blame on the girl for wrecking the relationship, the ‘heroes’ go on to cutely croon “why this kolaveri di” and it becomes a national obsession with all menfolk claiming that this is “their song”. These films may not glorify men, but they make men hapless victims of broken relationships and hold women and their ‘strange minds’ responsible for everything that goes wrong.

Where are the real heroines? The feminine but driven and bold heroine who challenged society and made her own life has died a premature death with the 1970s, with the films of K. Balachander. Veteran Tamil Director K. Balachander was hailed for being ahead of his times. Its such an irony that the Tamil directors of today, on the other hand are behind their times, doling out crass films in the name of humor and entertainment. Where are the real women? The one who is not coy but not necessarily a rebel either? Movies such as ‘Life in Metro' and the more mainstream and commercial ‘Wake up Sid’, in that respect were a breath of fresh air. In Konkana Sen one saw a more realistic and multifaceted portrayal of the girl next door. A independent woman, who is neither shy nor outspoken, who loves her job, loves to go out for a drink but not always party and most of all is skeptical of all men, but will walk the extra mile for a friendship. Doesn’t she seem like us or a person we know?

(It is however disappointing to see the promos of Ayan Mukherji’s next film. He also seems to have succumbed to the fairytale Bollywood romance- Yeh Jawani Hey Deewani).

So if men directors are busy stereotyping women, does the onus fall on women to showcase a true understanding of the emotions and perspectives of their sex? Watching ‘Arohanam’ a movie by Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, I was left with mixed emotions. While the movie successfully got rid of every archetype associated with women, be it the ‘noble all sacrificing mother’ character or the ‘vindictive stepmother’, it seemed to be unfortunately giving space to another pattern; that women directors only make women-centric films, and that only women directors can.  It took a Gauri Shinde (English Vinglish) to put forth that Indian men must transcend their role of being providers of wealth and comfort and must instead give their spouses respect. It took a film by Revathy (Mitr My Friend) and national award for us to realize the loneliness of housewives. However, most movies that pivot around a woman character are issue-based;rape, female foeticide and dowry harassment. These social evils must be addressed and there is no better platform than cinema to stir one’s conscience but must we relegate and confine a woman role in cinema to merely such representations is a question that needs to be asked.

But the winds of change are hopefully not too far away.  Sujoy Ghosh’s ‘Kahaani’ provided some relief with a Vidya Balan carrying the entire film on her shoulders (or should we say stomach), which apart from the prowess of the lead character also showed that a pregnant woman could be desirable!  A recent Malayalam film titled ‘ 22 F Kottayam’ was extremely disturbing through its stark portrayal of the hundred things that are wrong with the world and that can go wrong with a young girl’s life. It follows the story of a young and ambitious nurse from Kottayam who falls in love with the wrong man, only to realize much later that she was tricked into a bigger plot, and traces her journey of reconciliation and redemption. For the first time we see a soft spoken  ‘regular girl’ and (not a vamp) heroine who isn’t afraid to confess that she isn’t a virgin; the hero and heroine live in together, and perhaps for the first time ever in Indian Cinema, the heroine punishes the hero for his misdeeds by bobbitising him. What is even more heartening is to see one of the leading and upcoming heartthrobs of Malayalam cinema (Fahad Fazil) willingly and very convincingly portraying this role of the anti-hero, who is punished in such a grotesque manner. In a male dominated and chauvinistic industry, where even the heroine verbally abusing the hero is received with disapproving catcalls from the audience, this is a huge step, in the right direction.

 Cinema has never merely been a tool of voyeuristic pleasure or a route for escapism. The socio- cultural impact that it can have on the mindset and behavior of its audience cannot be ignored. Going back to the psychology premise that the human mind for some strange reason (perhaps because its easier being ‘bad’ than good) mimics ‘negative’ behavior more effectively, illustrates the point that its time our films exercised some sensitivity and intelligence in showcasing reality, especially when it concerns women.

The depth of friendship is not known by the length of the acquaintance. The 100 years of Indian cinema doesn’t call for celebration without its women being respected.

* Shift Focus in videography terms refers to shifting focus from an object in the foreground to the background or vice versa. Basically one object, which was in focus or was sharp, becomes blurred and the focus is shifted onto another.