Ramya Krishnan’s character “Neelambari” is one of the most powerful female characters portrayed in the Tamil film industry. The movie “Padayappa” had given equal importance to the female lead despite being a movie released in 1999. So in 2016, where the number of actresses in the industry is increasing, why are directors hesitating to give them equal importance?

 

Movies of the current times focus more on ‘objectifying’ their female leads while shining all their light on the male leads. The “heroes” are given more importance whereas the “heroine” is always the side kick and more of a fancy feature in the film. The heroines are used for merely drawing the crowds in because of their glamour quotient. The number of people that watch a movie solely for the heroine is alarmingly high. Are directors using the “hero” as the investment in the story while the “heroine” is the backup plan? Isn’t it high time we stop calling them as “hero” and “heroine”? An ideal term would be the protagonist. The story of the movie should be given more importance. An actor who could do justice to the role should be chosen for playing it. But the logic here is tweaked. Movies are made with artists that are popular with the masses. Hence they not only fail to do justice to the story line, but also fail to highlight good performing artists.