Asianet News Cover Story on sexual abuse of actor- the need for self-introspection

A recent Cover Story episode in Asianet News where in its anchor Sindhu Suryakumar lashes out at the Malayalam film industry (Mollywood) for not doing anything to the injustice suffered by its female actors has received considerable attention with lot of social media shares.

Sindhu points out that the film fraternity that gathered to protest against the sexual abuse and attack on an actor while she was travelling in a car to Ernakulam arranged by her film company.  Only two female actors were given an opportunity to speak while the male actors were seen struggling to express their anguish and anxiety over the attack.

Male chauvinism is very much prevalent in Mollywood and what moral right do the actors have in convening such a meeting and expressing solidarity for the cause of the abused actor, Asianet Cover Story asked.

She also took a dig at the political leadership who along with the industry tried to making effort to protect the unholy nexus in the industry- consisting of a few actors, directors, goondas and producers who were controlling the whole scene.

The need for self-introspection
The Asianet  News Cover Story no doubt exposes the hollowness, hypocrisy of Mollywood industry- even super stars portraying misogyny, goondaism and glorified corruption yet do nothing for the suffering endured by the female actors. Only actor Prithviraj announced that he will no longer be acting in any role that is misogynistic while many superstars who have been criticized for doing such roles in the past are yet to make such a promise even after the sexual abuse incident rattled the industry.

We can only hope that the Mollywood industry would take criticism against them in the right spirit and try to mend their ways.

Introspection is required for all

Professionals from all walks of life should do a self-introspection. Is the media of which Sindhu Suryakumar is a part, doing justice to its journalists, cameramen and others working for the industry? Who will highlight the injustice suffered by them?

What's happening is a blame game. You can find film industry, politicians and others blaming the media for misrepresentation, sensationalism, falsifying news while media sits in judgment on all others.  Doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, architects are all keen on putting blame on policy makers and the media but seldom look inward into the unethical practices seen in their profession.

No profession is free from unethical behaviour and therefore self- introspection should be done by all. For example, doctors have been accused of colluding with clinical labs and pharma companies to prescribe unnecessary tests or medicines.  When doctors make a mistake, the people who sit in judgment over a complaint are people from the medical profession itself. On the other hand, we have a practice of appointing judges to head to the press watch dog- Press Council of India. Likewise, lawyers are more keen on finding fault with other professionals than looking inward.

Unethical behaviour by any professional needs to be dealt with firmly and discouraged but does this happen always?

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.

Decline of Nair dominance in education institutions in Kerala

The agitation by students in an academic institution teaching law in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala is entering its fourth week. Student organisations have pointed out several anamolies in the functioning of this premier private law college in Kerala. The institution run by Nairs- Lekshmi Nair, cookery show celebrity,  the principal and its founder is her father Narayanan Nair who headed the institution for a long time. His brother Koliakode Krishnan Nair is a CPM leader.

However, Kerala Law Academy Law Collge, an autonomous institution has nothing to do with the Nair Service Society (NSS) founded by the freedom fighter and visionary Mannathu Padmanabhan. They have a large number of educational institutions from primary school to engineering, medical, arts and science colleges and hospitals in the State.

The NSS was started in 1914 with the objective of uplifting the Nair community that was facing a crisis due to outmoded customs, beliefs  and loss of their supremacy in land ownership due to lack of hard work and education. Nairs were the warrior tribe in erstwhile Travancore and they occupied high positions in administration. Some Nair families by virtue of their land holdings also kept slaves. . Their extravagant life style, ceremonies and lack of education contributed to their decline.

The classic work, The Decline of Nair Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore 1847-1908 by Robin Jeffrey gives a description of the changes that occurred to the Nair community during this period.

Meanwhile, the Kerala politics witnessed the dominance of caste in elections since late 1940’s before the formation of Kerala State along linguistic lines. The early dominance of Nair community gradually gave equal way to Ezhavas, Christians and later Muslims who continue to have pockets of influence. NSS sometimes maintained a principle of equi-distance from the CPM-led Left Democratic Front and Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

Apart from government institutions, private aided, unaided schools and colleges set up by NSS, Ezhava community, Christians and Muslims have played a stellar role in creating more educational opportunities in the state.

However, in terms of quality of education and training imparted, the Christian institutions seems to have scored over others although in terms of infrastructure NSS. Ezhava and Muslim institutions were equally good.

Having studied for two years in an NSS institution and later in government institutions, I realised the vast difference in standards between the two. Also the better scoring students tended to seek admission to institutions run by Christian organisations.  Examination results also reflected the quality of education provided by NSS institutions. The teachers were recruited more on their financial ability rather than merit.

The Law Academy Crisis

The Law Academy was started in the late 1960’s as a society with the blessings of the CPM led government at that time. However, in due course, it became a private institution with no control of the government except an affiliation with the Kerala University.

The irregularities in the functioning of the Law Academy was known to people in the capital city and I remember in my college days, meritorious candidates usually sought admission to Government Law College while average or lesser performers got into Law Academy.

It was N Narendran covering the education beat for The Indian Express who first chronicled the irregularities in the Academy but no political party or the University took any steps to correct the anamolies in its functioning. The notable alumni list of the institute includes politicians, journalists, magistrates, government pleaders, advocates and therefore nobody took up the issue. No other media organisations seem to have followed up Narendran’s story either.

The Academy also didn’t take any step to improve their functioning and expressed their ire over Narendran’s reports. They didn’t keep ownership and management of the Academy separate. This led Lakshmi Nair, daughter of the founder taking over the reins of Principal of the institution. Serious allegations have been raised against her including calling a Dalit by his caste name apart from showing favouritism in internal assessment for some students.

Although run by Nairs, the Law Academy has nothing to do with NSS but at the height of the crisis, they were reported to have approached NSS leadership to seek their support.

The NSS institutions seem to be requiring a good dose of professionalism just as Mannathu Padmanabhan exhorted the Nair community in early 1900’s to come out of their shells and work hard to be in the forefront.

Demonetization:Cutting the Vital Blood Supply to the Economy

By Sreekumar Raghavan

By now you may have read many articles, analysis which were either supportive or against the recent demonetization initiative of Narendra Modi Government in India. This is my first post on demonetization. Without being judgmental, let us try to find out what was done through demonetization.

Let’s take a comparison between blood circulation in our body and currency circulation in the economy. Blood by itself doesn’t have much value in our body but it is important because it carries vital nutrients and life sustaining oxygen to our cells and tissues.
 

For some reason if there is bleeding in our body we use emergency measures to stop it or else we will die. Also we know that blood that comes back to the lungs has less value that that which is pumped into the heart chambers for distribution in the body as it contains oxygenated blood. Also we know that when surgeries are performed, the patient is put on other life support systems to survive.

As blood is to our body so is currency to our economy. The 10, 50, 100, 500,2000 or other currency denominations don’t have any intrinsic value other than as a medium of exchange in the economy. When we curtail the supply of currency economy slows down just as our body turns weak when we have less blood which is medically called Anemia.

Sometimes, patients are diagnosed with blood lacking vital minerals or vitamins—potassium, sodium, magnesium … They are given supplements to make up for what is lacking in blood.  

The currency is exchanged as value of a good or service or an immovable property. Only when people engage in work and business men or government invest in machinery and raw materials, does the economy function. Currency is only a convenient way for people to buy and sell goods or services as otherwise we may have to adopt the cumbersome barter system of ancient age.

What may have gone wrong with demonetization?

The objective of demonetization was to curb black money, money laundering, fight terrorism and bring more transparency in business and personal finance in the country. Ever since I started learning and reading more about Economics after my school years, plenty of analysis has come about black money-politicians, economists, bankers all talk about it. Black money is also legal tender but for which the concerned individual or institution hasn’t paid taxes to the government.

It is true that taxes are what we pay for upkeep of our civilization. We need good roads, hospitals, schools, dams, public utilities, law and order, judiciary. Government can utilize tax payer’s money to fund all these projects. But people are reluctant to pay taxes, most people try to evade taxes rather than avoid it. Tax evasion is a criminal activity while tax avoidance is permitted.

It may be because people dealing in black money have an obligation towards each other. If one party reveals his source of income, it exposes all the stakeholders who were involved in the transaction who in turn have to expose all others involved in the transaction and it will be never ending cycle. 

The voluntary disclosure scheme was laudable but many didn’t utilize it as they may have been anxious about income tax sleuths pestering them with notices and investigations on their wealth.

Now coming back to the blood circulation analogy in our body, if we turn sick no doctor suggests changing your blood however infected it is. Even in case of dengue fever where platelet count drops more platelets are injected into the system or certain herbal medicines are taken to increase the platelet count.

Finding the right cure

Just as the task of any physician is to diagnose the disease and administer the right cure, the government needs to make a proper diagnosis of the functioning of the economy and take corrective steps. It may be rationalization of taxes, bringing more transparency in use of funds for public good, instilling trust in citizens and business community.

The go ‘cashless’ slogan is no doubt laudable. It requires time and more infrastructural investments in backend technologies and proper awareness building. 

I am not being judgmental on the demonetization issue- just because most people are suffering due to lack of currency and restrictions on its withdrawal from banks. Nor I am saying the crisis in agriculture, small and medium industry and trade is going to last forever.


 

                              V C Shukla, India's Revenue Minister's clarification on demonetisation in 1970

The truth is many sectors of the economy are gasping for breath as vital supply of blood (currency) was made as a ‘patriotic’ measure by Narendra Modi government. The Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE) data shows new investment proposals have fallen drastically in October –December 2016 quarter, tourist arrivals have come down, traders report lower sales, farmers have destroyed crops in some places as there are no takers at prevailing prices.

Why the currency was kept in lockers and under bed?

It is astounding the amount of currency that was legal tender but didn’t come to the banking system nor was it invested somewhere. if we had indeed invested so much money in agriculture, industry or in services, we could have easily overcome China , the emerging economy giant, in growth and development. In the post financial crisis period of 2008, it may be recalled that China, India and Brazil were the fastest growing economies in the world.

I think the government, income tax sleuths and policy makers should not be hunting down tax evaders treating them as criminals but think of how to utilize such hidden wealth for the development our nation.

Not yet ready for post-mortem

We are not yet ready for a post-mortem. The government has given indications that currency crisis will continue until April or a bit longer. If the economy, personal finances, money supply and economic activity are not normalized by then, then people would deliver the final judgement.

Media -Time to do away with Q & A interviews and redefining News

Following Jayalalitha’s death, Karan Thapar’s interview with J Jayalalithaa done in 2004 has been shared and discussed in social media and other media. Karan Thapar himself had written about that interview and how some questions just slipped from his tongue and made him miserable. Those who have analysed the interview will understand that the questions were a bit shallow and it was preceded by the statement- the’ press says’, or ‘press alleges’ or ‘the media said.’ This is the way most interviews are conducted on TV and also other media.

Perhaps, it is time to rethink about how to conduct interviews not only for the print media but also for broadcast media and online.

1.Why not stop Q & A: The traditional mode of interview is for the journo to ask questions- it may be factual questions, questions on policy, controversial questions. Although a minister, MLA or MP represents the people and has an upper hand or authority, he or she still is not the single source for all the answers related to an issue.  On the other hand, if it turns into a dialogue where the interviewer uses his knowledge, insight gained from the field to express his comments or allow viewers to send their views and get it aired, it makes sense. Party’s or coalitions views on specific topics can always be send as press release and published if it is so important.

However, this requires considerable reading and research by media and it is not that easy. However, if you go back to the Karan Thapar-Jayalalitha interview- both of them had sheets of paper before them but what was the information or data she wanted to tell. Was there any hard numbers or achievements she wanted to highlight?

Ultimately, a politician’s success should not be just confined to analyzing their victory, defeats in elections or even how people view them but by what changes they made to the State or the country. Is Tamilnadu better off than it was in the 1980’ and early 1990’s? Was Amma’s popularity due to the free sarees or subsidized rice she provided?  Has there been real industrial and economic growth and do investors feel happy with the State Administration? If the media has hard numbers or evidence related to this, it would have given any Chief Minister-whether it is Jayalalitha or Karunanidhi facing the camera a really tough time.

2. Going for TRP and popularity

Media being another business, news has also become a branded commodity. Each programme or a section in a news page may be designed in such a way as to attract maximum readership or TRP rating.

Thus Hard Talk may have a particular pattern of tough questions and answers that may put some leaders in a spot but most often as Jayalalitha says it doesn’t add any value to the viewer.

3.Looking at unusual patterns

The media makes news by pointing out something unusual somebody does. It has to find something unusual in people, events, leaders whether it is negative or positive. The doc who popularized ‘lateral thinking’, Edward de Bono,has pointed out this uniqueness of the media. That perhaps make them celebrate successes rather than find out why the majority fail.

4. Redifining News: News is not the traditional North-East-West-South concept of information coming from different directions. But it should try to answer questions that are relevant to the common man-whether it concerns the banking system, utilities, economic growth, performance of a government or a minister.

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.

Chicken Puffs for Rs 250, the Economics Actor Anusree doesn't know

Some news sites reported about Actor Anusree’s shock and anguish over paying Rs 250 for chicken puffs, black tea Rs 80 and Rs 100 for Coffee at a restaurant in Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. When she posted this on her Facebook, several netizens protested against the Kitchen Restaurant that charged such high rates for snacks and beverages.

A Member of Parliament (MP) from Kerala is expected to raise the issue of this fleecing at the airport in Loksabha.

Actress Anusree's profile pix in FB and below her post related to Chicken Puffs

Those who have read Freakonomics, the best seller by Stephen J Dubner and Steven Levitt will understand that such premium pricing in some locations is not unusual and is quite universal. The places where you may have to shell out such premium prices for mineral water, food, beverages  are in cinema theatres, railway stations, airports, on flights,  beaches, tourist centres and five star hotels.

In these places, the seller has a monopoly, there won’t be any other seller offering at a competitive rate and the nearest seller may be a few kilometres away. Those who are thirsty or hungry need to pay higher rate at such places but if they can hold on and take the trouble to go a few kilometres they’ll get more variety fare at cheaper rates. It’s your choice.

There may be other factors behind the higher prices. The vendor who runs the restaurant at airports or railway stations may have paid a huge license fee to get a space there and may be paying higher rent compared to a similar place in the town or city. Remember, not many people will buy huge quantities of snacks or beverages in airports or five star hotels or inside flights.

In a flight you may have to shell out Rs 500 for a sandwich supplemented with ketchup or assortments whose actual value may be hardly Rs 50 or 75/-. Once a co-passenger in a Kingfisher flight from Bangalore told me he never thought food is not given free in budget flights but he chose not to buy despite being hungry as he was not willing to shell out Rs 500 for a small pack of food.

In Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, if the particular restaurant sells 100 pieces of puffs daily (quite unlikely), their earnings would Rs 25000 and sells hundred 100 cups of coffee(Rs 10000).  A business outlet in such a place needs to have atleast such volumes to justify their existence there – after all they need to meet A/c, higher rental, employee costs, raw material costs and their potential is limited to number of passengers who may choose to buy at this rate.

My wife who checked in at Taj Hotel in Chennai the other day said Idli, Vada and Tea for breakfast costs Rs 500 and she chose to go to a nearby local restaurant and got it for less than Rs 100. In fact, many people who stay in five star hotels don't eat from there unless it is sponsored by their company or somebody else.Why pay more if you can get better quality at very reasonable price from a way side dhaba?

Price is not cost + reasonable profit

Many people think, price of a product is just cost plus reasonable profit. But most often that is not the case. It is basically about how much the customer will be willing to bear and uniqueness of the product. Value rests in the mind of the buyer. You are the king, not the seller. 

Pricing (Price theory)  is an important topic in micro-economics and it is difficult to go into the nuances of it all in this blog.  I don’t expect Anusree , a talented actress of Diamond Necklace, Mahashinte Prathikaram and Oppam fame to know all these things related to economic theory but going by the huge number of shocked people who reacted to her FB post, I am worried a large majority doesn’t understand it at all- despite the fact that we are all consumers in one way or the other. 

Tailpiece: Anusree comes from film industry where super stars get crores of rupees from a single film and ordinary people who earn below Rs 500 per day queue up to watch them do all sort of stunts and drama!