Will Silver Screen Divas Ever Get Real?

By Padmalatha Ravi on Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 21:51

 Will  silver screen divas ever get real?

With close to 900 films a year, India produces the largest number of movies in the world. But this popular art form has however remained a man’s viewpoint of the world. Padmalatha Ravi takes a look at women’s roles in South Indian films.

Cinema remains the most favourite entertainer in

India, even after Ekta Kapoor revolutionised television viewing with her soap operas. Of these, Bollywood churns out 80-100 movies and the rest come from regional languages. But after so many years, cinema remains a hero’s medium. Very few movies have powerful women characters. Even fewer with just women as central characters have become a commercial success, keeping money bags for such movies at bay.

Malayalam cinema, known for its off-beat and realistic cinema till very recently, has had its share of strong women characters. Films like K S Sethumadhavan’s Oru Penninte Katha, Padmarajan’s Thoovanathumpikal, T K Rajeevkumar’s Shesham and more recently M Jayachandran’s Perumazhakaalam, Roshan Andrews’ Notebook and Adoor Gopalalrishnan’s Naalu Pennungal have had some memorable women characters.

T K Rajeev Kumar, a Malayalam film director and former chairman of

Kerala Chalachitra Academy has made films like Shesham with Geethu Mohandas in the lead and Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu with Manju Warrier as the protagonist. He says, “Malayalam cinema has a few films with women as central characters to its credit. However post 80s, producers and directors have made films mostly about man-woman relationships, without actually discussing it. They end up as dreamy characterisations, preaching about morality issues and not touching upon reality. I feel television is bolder when it comes to women’s portrayal.” He goes on to add that nothing new has happened in Malayalam cinema since 1995 and that “stardom is killing talent”.

 Tamil cinema on the other hand has managed to mix commercial interests and social issues into a successful formula to some extent. Director K Balachander is one of the prominent names to figure when women in Tamil cinema is discussed; be it Kamal Hasan starrer Apoorva Raagangal (1975), Suhasini starrer Sindhu Bhairavi (1985), Kalki or his Simran and Madhavan’s Paarthaley Paravasam (2002). In Apoorva Raagangal, there is a much older Srividya falling in love with the young and restless Kamal Hasan, a bold move for the times, while Sindhu Bhairavi shows Suhasini, falling for a married man without regrets. Kalki too was ahead of its time with protagonist played by actor Shruthi challenging the male dominance in a relationship. However the movie wasn’t a commercial success. Paarthaaley Paravasam attempted to look at divorce, though this too failed at the box office. In an interview, Balachander confessed, “I gave centrality to women at a time when Tamil cinema was dominated by two patriarchs—MGR and Shivaji Ganesan. Even the great Savitri was there only as a pickle to go with. I have spoken on behalf of women.” 

Although among the new crop of directors in Tamil, very few have dared to make women centric films. Suhasini Maniratnam’s “Indira” had Anu Hasan play a village girl forced fight panchayath leader. The film recorded stark realities of caste and gender bias. Though critcally acclaimed, film wasn’t a commercial success. However there has been slight shift in the portrayal women in cinema. Young directors have taken note of change in social set up and added that element in cinema. Asin’s role in director A Murugodoss’s Ghajini, had a brave streak in her. She rescues two dozen young girls being trafficked to Mumbai. Later, when she comes face to face with the man responsible for it says “Only in the last 100 years have women dared to come out of their kitchens and thanks to people like you, they might just go back there.” Gautam Menon’s Vettaiyadu Vizhaiyudu, though was a hero centric film, the heroine was a woman who was willing stop being a battered wife. Although such roles are few and far in between.

In the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh however the scene hasn’t been so positive says Tallam Ravi, a journalist.  He says “in the early 60s and 70s heroines like Bhanumathi and Anjali Devi played innumerable number of characters. But they were not the roles of emancipated women. They played the typical Indian women, the ardhaangi.” There were of course films like “Manushulu maarali (1969) starring Sharada and “Collector Janaki” (1972) with Jamuna that were path breaking. But very few films after that have shown women as characters with individuality. Director and producer late Talasila Kranti Kumar’s films like Swathi, Oorvasi, Seetharamaiahgari manavaadu and Tommidi nelalu are a few worth mentioning here. He was known as the `crusader of woman's cause' on screen. In Swathi, Sharada plays the role of a deserted woman. She finds solace in her rebellious daughter played by Suhasini, who fights to get her mother remarried. In Thommidi Nelalu, Kranti Kumar touched upon surrogacy.

In the late 80s and 90s Vijaya Shanti took over the telugu cinema with her action movies. “That is just woman trying to play a man’s role and not true emancipation” says Tallam Ravi.  The recent spate of films shows women as either sexual objects, glorified martyrs or these unrealistic super heroes which “is certainly not reality” he laments.

Kannada films too have fallen into this rut in the recent times says National award winning director Girish Kasaravalli. “We cannot get away by saying audience doesn’t want to see such films. We have conditioned them into this, so if want we can change it” he says. Kasaravalli’s films have always had women as central characters. Be it Yamunakka of Ghatashraddha (1977), Naagi of Dweepa (2001), Hasina (2004) or Venkatalakshmi and Rajalakshmi in Naayi Neralu (2006). He says the choice of women centric scripts wasn’t intentional, “I make films based on novels and short stories. The stories that moved me were about women who face all social odds and still remain intact. They have the mental strength to co-exist with these odds and bend them. This fascinates me and moves me to make them into films.”

Among the earlier directors, Puttanna Kanagal’s films showed women in spunky roles. Among over 2 dozen Kannada films, a majority were women centric. In Belli Moda, (1966) the heroine refuses to accept a selfish lover who then regrets his behaviour. Edakallu Guddada Mele (1973) revolves around the sexual frustrations of a middle aged woman trapped in a loveless marriage and falls for a younger man. Paduvaralli Paandavaru (1978) talks of caste based oppression. The movie had actor Aarathi playing a pivotal role of a journalist, who bravely fights along with the oppressed. Another Aarathi starrer Ranganayaki (1981) explores the protagonist’s dilemma of choosing between her passion for acting and marriage, while subtly touching upon the Oedipus complex at a later stage.

There have been other films with women as central characters over the years but they have been mostly weeping women in need of rescuing or arrogant women who have to be “tamed” by the heroes. Kasaravalli feels that the only way out of this situation is to improve the infrastructure of film distribution and exhibition, “take them out of the purview of commercial interests and show cinema for what it is – an art form.”