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.
Some actresses choose story lines that have a good scope of acting for them. Others choose scripts even if they have little to nothing to offer. The former is a bolder bunch and know that their talents should be utilized the right way. The latter however is a pitiful bunch that is forced to pick movies without a meaningful character to keep their career going. The problem here is not entirely with actresses because the scripts that are provided to them is what decides their role.
Times are changing in other film industries. Bollywood is producing more female oriented movies while Mollywood has always emphasized the roles of female leads. A few films like “Baahubali-The Beginning” have many strong female characters on board from Tollywood. Movies like “Kahaani” and “7 khoon maaf” show a very strong female character just like “Mary Kom” and “Queen”.
However, when it comes to Kollywood, the number of female centric movies is very few. “36 vayadhinile” and “Snegithiye” is a couple of movies from the last few years that have focused entirely on the female lead. Movies like “Patchai Kili Muthucharam” and “Vallavan” show lead actresses in negative roles. Their characters still succeeded in making a mark. But lately, most of the movies that are released have almost no meaningful role for the female lead. So what is the reason behind this significantly low number in Kollywood?
The base line is that, commercial movies sell better than stories with an actual plot. The numbers of movies that are made with a brilliant plot are less because it is easier to reach the expectation levels of an audience when the movie has a clichéd story line. A clichéd story line is also a safe story line because experimental and fresh ideas are the ones that come with an anticipation to succeed or fail. Also, the way female leads that are portrayed in movies shows the way we think of them. On one hand, movies are made with heroes chasing after their “beloved” heroines in a way that is unacceptable and not to mention, unrealistic. Heroines on the other hand are given roles that seem like it is their duty to act completely okay with the hero’s actions, before eventually falling for him.
Anjali’s character in the movie “Iraivi” is one such example. The movie which was well appreciated for portraying the troubles of different women also showcased what is wrong with men. But, instead of a story line that convinces the audience to treat women better, the movie gives more ideas on what can be done to hurt women physically and mentally. While the female characters in the movie (Iraivi) deserve the pity and sympathy of audiences, they also send out a message that “it is okay to hurt a woman because she is always going to be around until you correct your mistakes”.
It is high time directors make movies that have a solid role for female leads. It does not have to be a movie that is entirely based on one woman but it can have the female lead on roles apart from being a beautiful sight. Trisha’s role in “Thoongavanam” was critically appreciated because of her performance and stunts. Actresses should filter and look for scripts where their roles have a significant contribution to the movie. Don’t you think actresses like Hansika Motwani and Kajal Agarwal can do more than just dancing in Kollywood?