Have you ever got disturbed while watching movie? Have you ever thought about the absurdity of some scenes in movies? Have you ever wondered about the need of a so called “item dance” in movies? If yes, then this article will help you in your way ahead.
Films are always considered as a medium of entertainment and stating this argument many of the film makers have taken the liberty to do whatever they like, ignoring the great impact it could have on the society. By putting forth the shallow argument that people are looking for commercial movies, they have shut the doors of political correctness.
All of you would have found some scene or the other incorrect in most of the so-called “mass movies”. Objectification of women as well as men, denial of choice, body shaming, sexist jokes, establishment of caste supremacy and several other disturbing trends are being normalised in movies these days.
The filmmakers should realise the impact these could have on the society, particularly the younger population, as the heroes themselves are endorsing these practices.
Most of the commercial movies these days will have the central character from a high caste family, with his friends always being inferior to him. The hero could love any woman based on her looks and she is obliged to love him back without any freedom to choose or else the hero could adopt any means from stalking to making suicide threats. Also, the hero is always glorified by pointing out the inefficiencies of his friends. Most of the songs would also be means for objectification.
This do not signify that all movies are wrong. There are several movies which uphold political correctness. Let us look into some such movies:
The great Indian Kitchen
The Great Indian Kitchen is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Jeo Baby. The film tells the story of a newlywed woman who struggles to be the submissive wife that her husband and his family expect her to be. The central characters are not given names, which is the biggest political idea. Just like the name signifies, it mainly happens inside the kitchen and clearly shows the monotonous lives of Indian wives and finally ends with the wife breaking the chains of marriage.
Thappad
Thappad is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Anubhav Sinha, which he also co-produced with Bhushan Kumar of T-Series. The film, starring Taapsee Pannu, was released in theatres on 28 February 2020.Amrita Sandhu and Vikram Sabharwal are happily married. Amrita is a sparkling woman and a homemaker, who is shown to spend her days looking after Vikram and the house. As the story progresses, she comes to some realizations and gradually breaks the marriage which had cost her self-respect and passion.
Pink
Pink is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language legal thriller film directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and written by Shoojit Sircar, Ritesh Shah and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. Pink features an ensemble cast, which includes Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Amitabh Bachchan, Angad Bedi, Tushar Pandey, Piyush Mishra, and Dhritiman Chatterjee. It clearly put forwards the statement, “no means no, whoever says it”.
Visaranai
Visaranai is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by Vetrimaaran. The film deals with lives of two men before and after thrown into a Kafkaesque scenario in which they get tortured for confession. The film strongly stands against the encounter. The story is an eye opener for all those who blindly supports encounter.
Ishq
Ishq is a 2019 Indian Malayalam language thriller film written by Ratheesh Ravi and directed by Anuraj Manohar. The film revolves around the life of a man from Kochi, named Sachi and his girlfriend, Vasudha. The story mainly revolves around the moral policing that they had to face. But the more than that it ends with the message that virginity is not the ultimate measure of a woman’s worth.
The great success of these movies clearly explains the acceptance for these movies. It shows that audience are ready to accept movies which deals with serious topics.
The advent of OTT platforms and the receptive audience have encouraged filmmakers to experiment with their creations. The extent of criticism in the era of social media has also instilled fear in many. Even though it is the case, the film industry needs a revamp. It should be updated