I think I should start watching Telugu movies. Not because I find them to be fascinating or interesting, but because I think that the content they present should be critiqued when they are still in vogue. I hold no delusions about my power to convince people that what passes for humour and morals in these movies is actually bigotry and prejudice. But I still think that my loyal readers (both of them) and I would effect more dialogue immediately after the movie than, say, five years down the lane.
I watched a Telugu movie. Predictably, the feelings that followed were frustration, anger, astonishment and an urge to beat up the filmmaker.
The movie in question is 'Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu'. It has many cringe-worthy scenes, but I will single out one. The hero (Mahesh Babu) and his entourage are in a mall, where a girl walks up to him and 'proposes' to him. Mahesh Babu makes some wise cracks about 'Bharata stree' (Indian women) and makes fun of the girl for not plaiting her hair. As if this wasn't enough WTFery, he then asks Einstein to invent a new species (of women, presumably) and send them to him.
In another Telugu movie (Jalsa), a girl tells the hero (Pawan Kalyan) that she loves him. The hero promptly replies that he loves her too and then tells her that he will send away his friends so that they can have sex. He doesn't use the word, because the filmmakers don't have the balls to explicitly state their opinions.
Then he delivers a passionate monologue on how after a girl tells a guy that she loves him, the guy is expected to reply with "I love you too" and then three years later, marry her. Even after marriage, apparently, the menfolk don't have peace. The poor husband, fed up of demands to go shopping and watch movies, wants to 'control' his wife with a couple of slaps. But pesky things like 'domestic violence' and 'women's rights' get in his way. The hero feels like a puppy that has not just been cornered, but also tied up in the corner.
From these two scenes, I have inferred that the greatest fear of Telugu filmmakers is a confident and independant woman. A woman who doesn't want to be 'wooed' but can tell a guy that she likes him. And wooing (usually in the form of bullying) is a staple of every Telugu film.
Why should I be bothered with the views of a few filmmakers? I have said this before. More than other mass media, films have the potential to influence people. They also reach people who do not have access to other media like books, newspapers, internet and TV.
Movies are not a magic bullet and people will not consume everything that they depict, I am aware of this. But in Tollywood, heroes are literal demi-gods, their every word held as gospel. In such a scenario, do you think it inconceivable that such flat-out misogynistic statements will not influence people?
I watched a Telugu movie. Predictably, the feelings that followed were frustration, anger, astonishment and an urge to beat up the filmmaker.
The movie in question is 'Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu'. It has many cringe-worthy scenes, but I will single out one. The hero (Mahesh Babu) and his entourage are in a mall, where a girl walks up to him and 'proposes' to him. Mahesh Babu makes some wise cracks about 'Bharata stree' (Indian women) and makes fun of the girl for not plaiting her hair. As if this wasn't enough WTFery, he then asks Einstein to invent a new species (of women, presumably) and send them to him.
In another Telugu movie (Jalsa), a girl tells the hero (Pawan Kalyan) that she loves him. The hero promptly replies that he loves her too and then tells her that he will send away his friends so that they can have sex. He doesn't use the word, because the filmmakers don't have the balls to explicitly state their opinions.
Then he delivers a passionate monologue on how after a girl tells a guy that she loves him, the guy is expected to reply with "I love you too" and then three years later, marry her. Even after marriage, apparently, the menfolk don't have peace. The poor husband, fed up of demands to go shopping and watch movies, wants to 'control' his wife with a couple of slaps. But pesky things like 'domestic violence' and 'women's rights' get in his way. The hero feels like a puppy that has not just been cornered, but also tied up in the corner.
From these two scenes, I have inferred that the greatest fear of Telugu filmmakers is a confident and independant woman. A woman who doesn't want to be 'wooed' but can tell a guy that she likes him. And wooing (usually in the form of bullying) is a staple of every Telugu film.
Why should I be bothered with the views of a few filmmakers? I have said this before. More than other mass media, films have the potential to influence people. They also reach people who do not have access to other media like books, newspapers, internet and TV.
Movies are not a magic bullet and people will not consume everything that they depict, I am aware of this. But in Tollywood, heroes are literal demi-gods, their every word held as gospel. In such a scenario, do you think it inconceivable that such flat-out misogynistic statements will not influence people?
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