Other than students of cinema, very few people now know that Rosy –the heroine of the first Malayalam movie Vigathakumaran had to flee the state due to her acting in the movie. Her house was burned down by those who were protesting against women acting. Back then acting was considered on par with prostitution and female roles in theater were done by men. Since then a lot has certainly changed for women who act, yet the roles they represent almost always seem to be secondary to their male counterparts, to quote popular cultural adage as “verum pennu”.  Women have more or less always donned the roles of mothers, daughters or lovers whose choices have been subservient to the hero or other male characters in the movies. A a stereotype that seems to be fuelled by the expectation of the average film goers as in the case of male heroes, seem to function when female characters are developed.

This is not to say that there haven’t be Malayalam movies that have explored women choices and self assertion. K.C George’s Adaminte Variyellu is an landmark exception. The movie explores the travils of 3 women. Vasanthi (Suhasini); a woman who has to mother three generations of her family in addition to her daytime job. She finds liberation by escaping into madness and a mental asylum. Alice(Srividya) who is married to a ruthless businessman and seeks solace in affairs. When she is refused a divorce, Alice commits suicide. When both the middleclass women prefer self destruction as their way to liberation, the third, a brutally exploited housemaid, Ammini (Soorya ) ends up in a home for women, but latter helps all the inmates of this home to break out of the suffocating atmosphere of the home to freedom.

Another notable film in the similar genre is T.V. Chandran’s Alicinte Anveshanam. Jalaja potrays the character of Alice, who is in search of her missing husband, a college lecturer. During her quest, she slowly discovers disturbing aspects of her husband, including his descent from his earlier radicalism into bourgeois degeneracy. In the end she gives up her search and decides to take the responsibility of her own life.

No narrative about women in Malayalam cinema is complete without mentioning Clara; Sumalatha’s character in P.Padmarajan’s Thoovanathumbikal. Even though an object of male fantasy, the character demonstrates an aggressive defense of her personal choices and freedom. Two other movies that should be mentioned in the same context is Padmarajan’s Deshadanakili Karayarilla and more recently T. Muraleedharan’s Sanchaaram both deal with female bonding and friendship. Many recent movies like Padam onnu Oru vilapam, Perumazhakkalam Gaddama,all  have in various ways taken up female agency, while the treatment or the underlying message more or less adhere to conventional expectations.

Beyond this, Malayalam movies seems to be going through a period of reinventing,films like  cocktail, traffic, chappa kurishu, beautiful, Salt and Pepper have been handling varied theme in a different manner. They are more urbane, realistic and explore themes beyond star crossed lovers running around trees. Salt and Pepper quite interestingly, revolves around relationship of a middle age couple portrayed through a food narrative. (a laudable first for Malayalam cinema) The film is filled with sub texts that open realistic windows to women’s choices in appearances, confidence and leisure. For the same reason Aashiqu Abu’s latest offering 22 Female Kottayam, certainly generate expectation, as the movie seems to directly address the travails of women. Rima Kallingal who has a penchant for unusual roles and strong performances from Nilathamara, Happy Husbands, City of Gods to Nidra is playing the central character. An unusually developed production house and a liberal producer with an aesthetic bend of mind in Ogee.An exceptionally sober and non filmi campaign, with real world experience of real life women marks the promotions. All this really make one hope for a new landmark movie in Malayalam.

The post Camera Obscura appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.