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.

Women and Sex remain the best sellers ever

Recently, accusations were made against senior political leaders in the South Indian state of Kerala of having received sexual favours in turn for granting solar projects. It included the Chief Minister Oomen Chandy, ministers Shibu Baby John, AP Anil Kumar and  legislator Haibi Eden. Saritha S Nair who is at the heart of the controversy denied the allegations made by her former business partner Biju Radhakrishnan before the Solar Panel investigating into the scam that rocked Kerala.

Kiss of Love
The couples who created a storm last year with the Kiss of Love campaign asserting their right to kiss in public and protest against moral policing have now been arrested for child sex trafficking and an online sex racket. Resmi S Nair, a model pointed out that after the fallout of the Kiss of Love campaign, she was being used by her husband to indulge in various sex rackets.

Sex & Women sell
Naturally, enough  the social media, whatsapp, electronic and print media immediately carry and share such stories with prominence because ultimately se and women sell better. In this backdrop, I saw a sensible post from Manu Kappan, my friend, in Face Book.

Here I quote Manu :

Kiss of Love, Prostitution and Moral Policing
Kiss of Love : 10 participants and 1 million spectators and I belong to neither and I can’t be bothered.

Prostituition : Its the oldest profession in the world and will exist as long as the world does. As long as the parties involved are consenting adults, none of my business.

Moral Policing : To put it crudely “morality flows out when someone is not getting it” or simply its a case of sour grapes. When I read the comments of certain people on social media, the only things I can see are sexual depravation and cultural poverty. For them women can never be persons with mind and emotions, but only body parts. The main reason for this cultural poverty is that they lived in a segregated society and only leered at women from a distance. The only thing I want to tell you people is that the minds of the younger generation who grow up mingling with each other are nowhere as dirty as yours.

I agree with some of the observations of Manu but not all. That concerns prostitution and position women occupy in Indian society. I have read the autobiography of some eminent men like distinguished diplomat KPS Menon who himself admits to having gone before marriage for one such adventure to get a feel of it.  I can’t understand how someone can be put to such hardship either because men and even boys need to get a taste of sex first before marriage or want to have a different feel  sharing bed with their wives . It is hard to believe that these women chose the profession willingly. Or is the society thinking how painful or drudgery it could be to undress before several men in their lives without a feeling of love?

And despite the huge market for prostitutes women and girls who lead normal lives are also targeted and Nirbhaya of Delhi, ‘Suryanelli’ girl in Kerala who continue to be harassed but non-sexually are all grim reminders of this.

The other day, I was discussing with a friend- Indian cannot improve if it refuses to change its attitude to women. We have a national pledge that says  India is our country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. And After all a boy or a girl, all come from a women’s womb, conceived taken care and delivered with much pain and risk. Anthropologically, speaking human child birth appears more riskier than others in the animal kingdom because our bi-pedal posture. Hence we should be grateful we were born in the first place. How come that we are not able to make our girls bold, get boys to respect them and acknowledge that they too should be granted liberty just as men?

Sex should be seen as an intimate, consensual affair between two closely known people and which should not be discussed with others. However, when there is an element of force is involved and against the wishes of the woman- that’s when the law has to intervene. However, men are still free to rape their wives, as per a recent court order!

Here is my wish list with respect to women & sex
Decades ago I remmber Sunday magazine carrying a cover story on sex starved Indians. However, with economic growth and perhaps the influence of media, men-women relations have become more liberal & a bit permissive. However, the society continues to grapple with the man-women relationship issue and how it should be defined.

In this backdrop, here is my wishlist on how our attitude to women, girls and sex in general can be changed:

1) People should stop discussing about sex openly or giving undue importance for it in the media.
2) Boys need to be taught at a young age to respect girls and women. They are not objects to be pounced upon,  nudged, beaten or harassed.
3) An effort has to be made to reduce and do away with prostitution. It’s true that many women and girls who were rescued tend to return may be because their minds have become empty enough to think about any other worthwhile profession.
4) Those using social media should ensure that they don’t share or spread pictures, stories that demean women.

(I have published this blog deliberately with out pictures as I don't to want to attract any reader attention based on the graphics or pictures)