A few years ago, when the popular Tamil Actress Kushboo made a public statement that women should be careful while indulging in premarital sex and must take appropriate precautions in order to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, the women activists and political parties took to the streets, burning effigies of the popular actress. According to them, Kushboo had questioned the integrity of their Tamil culture and more importantly the integrity of their women. How could a north Indian who came to their land to earn a living, make such remarks. It wasn't something that could be accepted.
A few days back on my way back home from office, I heard a song from a new Tamil movie, whose lyrics seemed outrageously chauvinistic. The chorus of the song was something like this:
Adi da avala ( Beat her )
Odha da avala ( Kick her)
Vidra avala ( leave her)
Vennaam da Venaam Indha Kadhal moham ( I don't need this Lust)
Ponnunga Ellam nam Vazhvin Saabam ( Girls are the Curse of our life time)
After listening to this, the first thought that came to to my mind was questioning the virtues and values of the lyricists and the singer who had agreed to sing the song. I immediately, took out my phone from my bag and goggled the details of the song. the song was from a movie named Mayakam Enna. Both the singer and the lyricist was Dhanush, the son-in-law of Super Star Rajinikanth and the recent national award winner for best actor. His brother Selva Raghavan was the director of the movie.
If this song had been targeted against a particular community or any caste, people would have taken to the streets and at least 50 cases would have been filed against the lyricist, the producer of the movie, the director, the singer and the music director. But this song talks about long lost lovers, who love to blame their women to have dumped them and wail. The dialogues that demean women who have ditched their lovers or husbands, are often welcomed with whistles and applause in the theaters. The heroine of the movies earns respect only if she sides her man, however evil he is.
Why aren't those who questioned Kushboo questioning the lyrics of this song? Is it because the lyricist is a MAN from their own land? Or is it because he is the son in law of the Super Star?. Tamil Cinema, which often portrays its Hero as true men who are dark unwaxed chests, should stop showing heros wailing bitching about their lovers.
As long as songs like these are written and get 12434545 likes on Facebook, with comments like super macha, I am sure that girls won't stop getting friend requests from unknown Karthiks, Rameshs and Sureshs,who sit and while away their time in shady net cafes.
A few days back on my way back home from office, I heard a song from a new Tamil movie, whose lyrics seemed outrageously chauvinistic. The chorus of the song was something like this:
Adi da avala ( Beat her )
Odha da avala ( Kick her)
Vidra avala ( leave her)
Vennaam da Venaam Indha Kadhal moham ( I don't need this Lust)
Ponnunga Ellam nam Vazhvin Saabam ( Girls are the Curse of our life time)
After listening to this, the first thought that came to to my mind was questioning the virtues and values of the lyricists and the singer who had agreed to sing the song. I immediately, took out my phone from my bag and goggled the details of the song. the song was from a movie named Mayakam Enna. Both the singer and the lyricist was Dhanush, the son-in-law of Super Star Rajinikanth and the recent national award winner for best actor. His brother Selva Raghavan was the director of the movie.
If this song had been targeted against a particular community or any caste, people would have taken to the streets and at least 50 cases would have been filed against the lyricist, the producer of the movie, the director, the singer and the music director. But this song talks about long lost lovers, who love to blame their women to have dumped them and wail. The dialogues that demean women who have ditched their lovers or husbands, are often welcomed with whistles and applause in the theaters. The heroine of the movies earns respect only if she sides her man, however evil he is.
Why aren't those who questioned Kushboo questioning the lyrics of this song? Is it because the lyricist is a MAN from their own land? Or is it because he is the son in law of the Super Star?. Tamil Cinema, which often portrays its Hero as true men who are dark unwaxed chests, should stop showing heros wailing bitching about their lovers.
As long as songs like these are written and get 12434545 likes on Facebook, with comments like super macha, I am sure that girls won't stop getting friend requests from unknown Karthiks, Rameshs and Sureshs,who sit and while away their time in shady net cafes.
6 comments:
Excellent. Bharathi kaNda pudhumai peN nee thAnO?
That apart, like we had women on the streets against Kushboo, why aren't we seeing women against this song? Unless women speak out in this state, this nonsense will continue to be glorified.
PS: The word verification blogger is asking me now also sounds chauvinistic, "killitom"
In any paternal society, villification of the woman is the cool thing to do. Eve is the bitch who screwed adam, yes?
This is the hindu version of the same shit. We dont have a shitty bible but we're quite competent enough to humiliate out women without one.
Well Said.. I couldn't agree more. This shows nothing but the class of these people. You don't become a guy of class just because your the super star's son-in-law. Its possible to remove dirt but not a stain. These people don't have dirty minds, their minds are stained. The cinema industry is going to the dogs. I can't believe the same father-in-law (super star) acted in the song "amma enralaikadha" and "uyirum neeye odalum neeya".... These people will never change....
Well said and well written...I hate those Tamil/Telugu movies where they address the girl in the cheapest way by saying "di" in a very yucky way...you know what I mean? I have friends who say "di" to me but it is not in the vulgar way that Danush or other guys say...
Long hiatus? Or did I miss a post?
Nice post! I've been taken aback by this surprising u-turn as well.
I wonder what changed? Could it be that Kushboo was an 'older' woman who made the statement?
I too have noticed that Tamil Cinema is extremely male chauvinistic. On the night bus rides from Trichy to Chennai, I had no choice but to watch these movies where big bellied hairy chested men openly slapped and beat women. Don't mistake me. I don't think movies from other parts of India are any better. In fact all of us have imperfections. I myself realized that I had imperfections after I came to the US. For e.g. when I was in Chennai, I often wondered why my mom used to get frustrated fulfilling her household duties when after all my dad did all hard work earning the bread. Today, I balk at the concept that my mom literally sacrificed what could have been a highly successful career as a medical professional to look after her family. Even in the US, there are gender inequalities. All this is on a relative scale. It's unimaginable what happens in Afganistan. All of us have imperfections. Looking forward to your comments.
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