The filmy standards, social norms and the need to look perfect may sometimes prove to be hazardous in its nature. Maybe Sridevi was a victim?
Text Credits: Shibul Pavithran
According to the media reports, Sridevi died due to cardiac arrest or heart attack. But what made the celebrity suddenly feel weak in her health condition, when last week she was seen dancing in her nephew’s wedding in Dubai, where she looked quite happy. But there is something very fishy about it, how can a healthy adult accidentally drown in a bathtub( according to the recent forensic report submitted)?? And how does a bathtub drown someone, it’s not Atlantic ocean, or is it? Or is it yet another controversial/mysterious death in B-town( Jiah Khan and Divya Bharti, to name a few). It is said that she was brought to the hospital, in a dead state. Another crazy thing to imagine (or coincidental) would be that ‘Jayalalitha’ was born on the same date that Sridevi Died, and coincidentally even Jayalalitha had a very mysterious death in a hospital, which remained unsolved, till it was forgotten. And let’s not miss out on the fact that she died in Dubai, which is 100 multiplied by Bombay in all aspects of charm and power(with unlimited immunity). Let’s not complicate things further, and we don’t want to get politically right or wrong. It’s not our forte..
The legacy and character of Sridevi will never be forgotten, she has done fierce feminist roles, highly expressive and critically acclaimed performances in most of her films which will be cherished by the upcoming generations as well. She was the undisputed queen of charm, had remarkable comic timing, excellent body language and had the best expressions in Bollywood, with possibly no competition to her style. She created the position for women in the film industry, where for the first time they got importance for their character in the movies, she was the only actress in Bollywood who was paid higher than her male counterparts. She created a revolution for women in the film industry by ruling the big screen at a time when the cinema was dominated by the aggressive male roles. There could be many reasons and culprits for her sudden death, let’s try and understand them all..
Sridevi underwent laser skin surgery, silicon breast correction, botox, face lifts, body tucks & several facial corrections. She may have looked young, but the question remains is that.. did she put her body through more than what it can handle. There have been reports which say that she was heavily into ‘botox’ to maintain her health and looks. It’s like saying that did she took the Michael Jackson’s road to look all perfect. It’s ironic that Sridevi, who is hailed as the first female superstar of Bollywood, was subjected to sharp criticism about her appearance throughout her career, and now even after her death. Starting her career as a child artist, she was under public scrutiny for a long time. Earlier, it was alleged that she also underwent skin lightening treatment as the change of skin tone was “visible”.
There are no possibilities in the Indian movies for a Meryl Streep; India is not a country for old women. India wants women on screens who can be lusted for and can be used for commercials; like selling Lux or Fair and Lovely. They will be fantasized and followed but not respected. Even after they bear children, actresses like Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, and Kajol must quickly return to their earlier forms to be accepted in reel life. But, do they have a choice? Can they get roles of the kind an older male star gets? Would the average Indian audience, consisting both men and women, appreciate a movie with an elderly actress in a lead role, much like an Amitabh Bachchan? We know the answer.
PR industry plays a major role in actors image and promotes the movies through media. Every righteous movie star, director, writer etc, gets away claiming to have made an empowering movie for women. At the same time, they are unapologetic about the movies they had made, acted in, written or produced that may have contradicted their stance( they would have demeaned women). The aggressive promotion of such movies allows the slow poison at a cost of actors image or character. Generations of boys grew up thinking women are to be routinely stalked, harassed and molested, and established rape as a legitimate weapon. The PR strives to prove that only those movies that cater to the lecherous lumpen among the Indian men are successful. It would appear that such Indian men only want to see Katrina Kaif’s midriff; that was their goal and sole purpose of life. They don’t want better movies.
The fashion industry is also a big cause of the actions taken by the actors. Women, like men, should be free to wear what they want and look the way they want. But when a woman’s look is dictated by the requirements of male approval, especially for commercial reasons, there is a huge problem with that. An air hostess, who wears a short skirt to work, has to follow rules set for her on the job. But she has been placed there to entertain a certain type of Indian male passenger, not difficult to picture, who would travel that airline again and again only for the air hostesses.
Fashion has become an easy tag to justify the misrepresentation of women through narratives of choice. But preferences must be necessarily independent to be authentic. Further, the fashion sizes into which a woman must fit, impose a form that is unhealthy and unnatural
While this debate is raging in the rest of the world, in India, the fashion designers act as if it was a nation of teenage girls, desperate to get into their size-zero dresses. The celebration of choice cannot happen in India because the choice is tightly knit with the male endorsement. Indian fashion, dominated by men, exemplifies this condition.
In the end, however, we are all to blame. A famous Indian poet’s stature is enhanced when he pens a provocative item number that reduces a woman to a cheap, sexual fantasy. The director makes better money if the heroine of the movie is called ‘sizzling’. Respected publications sell because of cleavages, brands sell by showing women in the kitchen, or washing clothes. Men don’t care and women don’t protest in India (and even if they do, they are highly discredited and intimidated). With Sridevi’s death, yet another woman will fade away, only to be remembered that she was once, charming and beautiful.
