Are Mollywood Superstars Mammooty and Mohanlal Misogynistic?

Following the attack on the leading Malayalam actress by a gang in Kochi  led by her former car driver, the Mollywood film industry have unitedly condemned the attack and expressed support and solidarity for the actor. Leading stars Mammooty, Mohanlal, Manju Warrier described the incident as unfortunate and said the culprits should be brought before law.

Meanwhile, my friend G Pramod Kumar, a senior journalist shared an article he wrote sometime back in Huffington Post criticising the misogynistic roles portrayed by our superstars Mammooty and Mohanal.  He especially refers to Kerala State Women’s Commission serving notice to Mammooty for his insulting dialogues in the movie Kasaba.  He notes that many of the roles done by Mohanlal and Mammooty denigrated women and hence it was sheer hypocrisy now that they were crying over the assault on the actress.

Mammooty in Kasaba

The Artist and the Individual
Superstars have dual identities before us- one is the roles they play on the screen and the other is their real personality. Most of us have only access to the screen identity and not to their real identity except through interviews in TV, newspapers and magazines when they reveal their views on life, family etc.

There is no reason to believe that superstar Mammooty or Mohanlal share the same attitudes towards women as the characters they depict on screen. In public life, they have been seen to behave responsibly. We shouldn’t confuse their screen identity with their real identity.

The role dialogues, attitudes of a character in a story are all created by film makers to appeal to the audience and also with an eye on the box office. No film is made to make it a loss for the producer.  If the superstar plays the role of a goonda, or a rapist or a corrupt politician he needs to do justice to the role. In such cases, the actors become successful when people hate the character in the movie.

All the films that Mammooty acted in misogynistic ways were cleared by the Censor Board who are the gate keepers in the film industry.  They are bound to examine the moral, ethical and social implications of a movie before clearing them for viewing by the public. Now films display statutory warning messages on screen whenever a scene showing smoking or drinking is displayed. This is to tell the audience that the film is not being produced to promote smoking or alcohol use.

The commercial side of cinema and attitude of society

The cinema has a commercial element and an artistic element to it. Considering the huge cost in involved in its production most often the commercial weighs more than the ethical, moral or artistic dimensions. However, that doesn’t deter Mammooty or Mohanlal fans to keep rushing every time a new movie of theirs is released.

Secondly, we must not forget the fact that women from different walks of life are harassed in Kerala not necessarily physically but by words, gestures, looks and unwanted gossip to malign. Mollyood films partly are a reflection of this attitude and there is nothing alarming about it.

First and foremost we must stop taking double standards in society—what is applicable to men is not so for women. Men and women are not equal but unique in their own ways-each having their strengths and weaknesses. Once we realise this much of the problems that we see around will disappear and perhaps the dream of women travelling safely anywhere at any time can become a reality. Where this should this learning begin- at home, at school, at workplace….?

Tailpiece
There is lot of talk about revealing the identity of the leading actress who was assaulted in Kochi. However, what was quite painful was the way Times of India reported the incident as rape. How could they sit in judgement on the issue just because police had registered a case against the culprits quoting sections of the law which is against rape. Ultimately, the choice of news, articles in newspapers, news, visuals on television and themes for film are guided by popular appeal and commercial interests. Sometimes, sensationalism can go to extremes flouting all media ethics. After all they also need to sell and be ahead of their competition.

Remembering a 'sallapam' with Manju Warrier

By Sreekumar Raghavan
Last week,  Malayalam cine stars Dileep and Kavya Madhavan surprised many with their wedding held at Kochi which many close to them came to know only in the 11^th hour. There after social media was populated with supporters of Manju Warrier, who couldn’t digest the news of Dileep uniting in marriage with Kavya. Manju is yet to comment on the Dilip-Kavya wedding.

I remember the only interaction I had with Manju in 1998 along with my journalist friend Ashik who was freelancing for some publications. He was assigned to do a piece on Manju for a Bombay tabloid. I used to help him edit his copy and rework his intros as he was more comfortable with Malayalam than English. He requested me to accompany him for the interview with Manju at Pankaj Hotel. She had come there to perform at the Soorya Dance Festival and the meeting was arranged by Surya Krishnamurthy himself.

I remember going there at 8 am and Manju was dressed in a churidar looking more like a college girl. Her parents were there in the adjoining room. My friend plunged straight into the controversies in her career including the elopement from the sets of a film with the assistant director. He asked whether it was part of a move to give pre-release publicity to the film as some people claim. Manju was not surprised or taken aback by such questions. But her father intervened and said such questions can’t be allowed.

He had agreed to the interview only because Surya Krishnamurthy recommended and that no personal or controversial questions will be asked. The total time allotted was 30 minutes and Ashik still persisted with the questions concerning her affairs and rumors of marriage. Her father called me and said such personal questions should be avoided and the media should focus on her career. At this point of time marriage and all these affairs will only harm her career, he said. He felt her acting career would be totally upset by marriage.

After some time Ashik seemed to give up because of the frequent interventions and he also did not see any story in writing about her films and dance performances. I intervened once or twice to ask about her forthcoming films and also the dance performances. Very soon, her father announced that our time was up and they had to move on.

I had also not asked my friend what questions he would be asking but I felt the concerns of her parents were quite genuine. They had taken lot of pains to groom the artiste in Manju right from school days when she became Kalathilakam. The same year we interviewed Manju, she got married to Dileep.

I helped my friend write a short piece based on our meeting with Manju where the focus was on her upcoming films although we may have just mentioned about the controversies and her refusal to comment on it.

I forgot all about it until the other day when she began to be featured in the media following Dileep’s second marriage. What her father said has turned out to be true. She decided to marry when her career was at its peak and the Malayalam film viewers many times pleaded for her come back.

As I take my little daughter Diyah for various dance, music and sports performances, I realize a lifetime of hardwork and care Manju's parents took to groom a talented actress. She is back to the big screen again and let’s not put the spotlights again on her personal life but help her make it big again.

In sync with Resul Pookutty, the Master of Sound

Tuesday  (Jan 12, 2016) morning turned out to be a memorable day in my life as I happened to re-connect with my long lost friend (no Soulmate!) Resul Pookutty after a gap of two decades at the lobby of Marriot Hotel, near Cochin Intl Airport.  We spent over 40 minutes reviving old memories and reviving thoughts about various things including films, family and living in general.


Resul repeatedly asked me, “Why you didn’t contact me all these years. As a celebrity it wouldn’t have been difficult to get in touch with me -isn’t it true that you didn’t.”  Seeing my confused look and my statement  that everything has its own time to happen, he added “ I did try but somehow couldn’t connect and all these years I have been looking for you and didn’t know whom to ask”  Interestingly, those close to me following the development  including my wife Aswathy said I appear like the character Barber Balan played by veteran actor and director Srinivasan in the movie Katha Parayumbol !

I put the picture of our re-union in FaceBook the same day and there was quick response from friends and acquaintances some curious to know about our friendship and others who were surprised to know about my interest in foraying into film industry through film editing from Film and Television Institute (FTII), Pune.

Now the Flashback
Some time in December of 1990, one fine morning I boarded the Kanyakumari –Mumbai train in sleeper class to Pune with the aim of trying my luck in film editing at FTII. I was among several aspirants travelling in the same train in different compartments having cleared the written test and had to appear for a week’s orientation programme, write tests again and appear for interview. The selection was based on our cumulative performance assessed after the interview.

The aspirants in other compartments were Resul Pookutty whom most of you might have heard of only after he became a celebrity. Then there was Suresh Pai, now a veteran award winning film editor in Mumbai, Sriram Kothandaraman (Cinematographer), Mahesh (Director), Vinod from School of Drama  and few others who boarded from different parts of Kerala. I met Resul only in Pune railway station and instantly liked his humor and ability to establish rapport very easily.

Thereafter, for the next one week, Resul was the person who made our days and nights eventful with his delightful jokes and pranks he played on others in the hostel. But it was very evident after a few days that most of us wouldn’t make it to FTII as several experienced people trying for second and third time were there and performing well in group discussions and tests. For the interview, I remember  veteran director, K G George was a member o f the panel. Then there was the head of Film Editing Department Mr Rao and John Sankaramangalam, film director and dean of FTII. George asked me why I wanted to become a film editor. I said I read about many films rescued at the editing table including Chemeen and the vital role I could play in helping create good movies and documentaries. At that time I had already joined for journalism course at Kerala University and George felt I would be better off continuing there as my core skill seemed to be in writing but having no exposure to drama or films. He said if I felt the urge to do films, I could try next year. My analytical depth of classical films was also not commendable, George said.

Most of the first time aspirants returned in a bus to Mangalore having failed to gain entry and thereafter some of us boarded the Parasuram express to Thiruvannthapuram. But the now popular cinematographer of Bollywood Santosh Thundiyil from Chenganachery (or Chengannur) gained entry that year and I think it was his second or third attempt. He was a very jovial character but I couldn't get close to him as much as I did with Suresh Pai, Raman and Pookutty. I remember meeting him later on in one or two film festivals.

Resul also didn’t fare well in the interview and tests and went back to continue his LLB course at Govt Law College, Thiruvananthapuram and I continued with my journalism programme. Resul and Sriram Kothandaraman were determined to work hard and get into FTII next year. They went to libraries to read books on films, literature, never missed film festivals and kept preparing for their eventual entry into an institution that would catapult them to fame. Suresh Pai also attempted next year and got entry into film editing.

Resul was staying in the Law College hostel which was close to my house. And in the evenings when I felt bored I would walk to his hostel and find other friends like Sriram with him and we may go for a walk, have tea and snacks and talk about films or crack jokes.  With Resul around there was no scarcity for it. Sometimes, Resul came to my house and spend some time- he was I think amazed by the books I read – classical and modern fiction, current affairs, philosophy- Rajaneesh and also much talked about writers such as Kushwant Singh and Shobha De. I also had latest magazines taken from the library –Economist, Time, Newsweek which he used to glance through.

He said every time he meets Shobha De he remembers me because he heard about her books and writings for the first time from me.

We celebrated the entry in the second attempt by Resul, Sriram and Suresh Pai and they used to keep in touch ocasionally through letters or phone throughout their tenure at FTII. I remember while in his last year at FTII, Resul came for a break and badly wanted to meet Krishnan Unni , veteran sound recordist at Chitranjali Studio and I think he met him. Once, he jokingly said in the presence of Sriram– we are struggling now, it’s not easy to get assignments in Mumbai but one day you will write about us!

The other day when we met, he asked, “ Why you haven’t written about me so far?”. I am fulfilling that task now.

In journalism , since 1993 I had to struggle to get my first break and succeeded only in 1995 in The Financial Express. Till then I was mostly doing freelancing and worked for around eight months with Balarama Creative Unit in Kottayam where the greatest achievement was the rapport I established with late N M Mohanan, the visionary editor who was behind the success of both Poompata and Balarama. His characters Luttapi and Mayavi are now the favourite of every child.

In parallel, as I was struggling to get good media jobs, Resul, Sriram and others were struggling it out in Mumbai having no films to work on. Suresh Pai was their solace as he worked for a TV channel as editor and earned some money. I came to know of these developments through common friends in Mumbai and once or twice before my marriage in 1997, I remember meeting Resul a few times in Thiruvananthapuram . I forgot to invite any of the FTII groups for my wedding and thereafter I continued with my achievements and struggles in the media industry having won an award in 2001 but for the most part unable to realize my full potential anywhere.

Thereafter I lost touch with this group altogether but heard about some of the good work being done by Suresh Pai and Resul. And I knew considering their hardwork and overall merits they would go onto become celebrities but Oscar was something unexpected.

I didn’t feel like contacting Resul after that because one never knows how he might have changed after becoming a celebrity.  But I had fond memories of him and always thought I would bump against him in some meeting or the other or in the airport. It didn’t happen. I made my son Darshan read his autobiography-Sounding off and told him about our friendship.  I was part of the Kanyakumari-Mumbai journey Resul first undertook to FTII in December 1990 and I could recall each incident mentioned in it. But I was missing in the narrative. I put this in an FB post in 2012 and while in Commodity Online I wrote a year-end piece mentioning Slumdog Millionaire, the relevance of the film, my association with Resul Pookutty. Unfortunately, he didn’t google my name all these years, otherwise, it would have caught his attention.

Recently, the FB post of 2012 showing the cover of Resul’ book wherein I mentioned about the omission of me from the book was posted again in memories in Facebook. It was seen by my wife's uncle  M R Pradeep Kumar (Editor of Balarama) who shared it with Resul. He immediately got in touch with me and immediately that rapport was reestablished. He was in Kochi that day morning but was back in Mumbai when he called me. He promised to meet any day between January 10 and 12 and that’s how the meeting finally took place. It was warm and cordial in the presence of a family friend of mine and an upcoming music programmer Raihan.

He talked about the insecurities of film industry, lamented about not getting a good project after Slumdog Millionaire and in general about the problems faced by sound engineers. We also talked briefly about our old friends and family. I remember he was well read in Malayalam literature especially the classics of Vaikam Mohammed Basheer and his book mentions Hunthrapi Bussato several times. Whether it is literature, drama, people, music, sound,childhood experiences, films or just about anything in life, Resul has a strange way of observing it and coming up with something we didn't notice. He is still a child at heart.

Resul has agreed to include me in the second edition of Sounding off and its Malayalam original version. I am looking forward to it. And curious what he has to say about me!