Stills from ‘Varshangalakku Sesham,’ ‘Aavesham’ and ‘Manjummel Boys’; Malayalam cinema is arguably going through one of its best phases as far as box-office performance is concerned, with some of the recent hit films being criticized for either the complete absence of women or the lack of adequate characters for some women. Have had to face. some screen space

KAs per the last recorded census of 2011, Erala has a sex ratio of 1,084, indicating a population of 1,084 females for every 1,000 males. However, looking at some of the more popular films in Malayalam today, one cannot be blamed for thinking that there is a serious shortage of female population in the state.

Malayalam cinema is arguably going through one of its best phases as far as box-office performance is concerned, with some of the recent hit films being noted for either the complete absence of women or the lack of adequate characters for some women. Has faced criticism. Get some screen space.

a worrying trend

take the case of awe, Jeethu Madhavan’s roaring hit film mainly featuring Fahadh Faasil’s unflinching performance, has grossed over ₹150 crore at the box office. Parts of the film are set on a college campus, but not a single girl from the campus gets a major presence or even a line of dialogue. The only female characters are stereotyped; One of these is the voice of a young man’s mother, who mostly exists as a voiceover and asks, “Are you happy?” Whoever talks to her on the phone, and she is a sex worker. in the matter of Malayali from India, another recent release, Anaswara Rajan – one of the more promising young actors in the industry – occupies a prominent place in the posters, but she only gets a 10-minute cameo role in the film. That too a role which has no impact on the story of the film. Manju Pillai as the hero’s mother is the only other woman to get a notable role.

A scene from ‘Malayali from India’

Kalyani Priyadarshan and Neeta Pillai get equally insignificant roles in Vineeth Sreenivasan’s film Varshangalakku Shesham, In fact, he barely gets more than a few scenes beyond what is shown in the film’s trailer. Bhavana’s role in the recent Tovino Thomas starrer river tax Not better. sweet boyHighest grossing film in the history of Malayalam cinema Aadujeevitham It has also been criticized for not providing any scope for women to perform, but this can be forgiven considering that the films are based on real stories.

Even if it is small, sweet boy She painted a poignant portrait of a woman suffering with her son, who returned home after surviving an ordeal, the true horror of which she discovered only later. The only exception is recent box-office or OTT successes lovingIn which Mamita BaijuPlays the role of a confident and successful woman who is at the center of the story; attam, one of the best films of the year in which Zareen Shihab gets the role of a lifetime; And NeruIn which the role of Anaswara is equivalent to that of Mohanlal.

A scene from ‘Premlu’

disappear suddenly

This recent trend of women becoming invisible from Malayalam cinema is seen as a reversal of sorts after a decade of many films featuring strong female characters. This coincided with a shift from primarily star-driven films in the early 2000s to more scripted and character-driven dramas in the 2010s, some of which included films. Ozhimuri And 22 women kottayam To great indian kitchen, Thondimuthalam Drikasakshiyum And take off,

A scene from the ‘Great Indian Kitchen’

Even in films where women were not the protagonists, they had memorable roles Maheshinte PratikramOr kammatipadam, Whereas until the 2010s, female characters in Malayalam cinema, with a few exceptions such as KG George’s films, were viewed through the lens of patriarchy, and were expected to be submissive and chaste, films in the 2010s showed these unwritten, But broke widely. Followed, norms. Seen in this context, the release of such a large number of mainstream films one after the other, in which there is not even a single female character who can leave an impact, is bound to raise eyebrows. Although it’s clear that there is no evil machine working in the background to ensure such a scenario, the fact that so many filmmakers would think that female characters are inevitable points to a problem.

However, the celebratory atmosphere, when everyone is talking about the phenomenal box office success of film after film, is not really conducive to this debate, as seen by the reactions to some of the social media posts of women raising the issue. It is clear from. Most of the comments under these posts were dismissive of such arguments questioning the absence of female characters, while some were downright insulting. Some actors like Nikhila Vimal have argued that it is better to make some films with well-written female characters than to include women in films for representation. The demand is certainly not for virtuous female characters, but for roles with positive, negative or gray shades that at least leave some kind of mark.

Read this also On the portrayal of women in Malayalam cinema

role of institutions

It may be just a coincidence that the disappearance of women from cinema is happening at the same time when the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) is away from the limelight. The WCC, formed in 2017 after an actress complained of alleged sexual harassment by actor Dileep, was quite vocal in its initial days about changing the status quo in the industry and taking on the powers that be, but has been relatively silent of late. The Justice Hema Committee report to look into ways to improve the safety, salary packages and service conditions of women in Malayalam cinema and create a conducive working environment is also gathering dust even after four years of being submitted to the state government following the attack on the actor. Is eating.

A scene from ‘B 32 Muthal 44 Vare’

However, the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) under the government has been funding a project to promote women filmmakers for the last four years. Most of the films included in the project B32 Muthal 44 Vere, Nishidho, Blue And Divorce Has received appreciation in film festivals. Despite such efforts, the representation of women in mainstream cinema often depends on the whims and fancies of men, who form the majority of writers and filmmakers in Malayalam cinema. We are in the midst of an era of underrepresentation, a situation that is not very encouraging for the many women waiting to break into the industry in front of and behind the camera.