Time to correct the ‘Drishyam’ script

S.R.Praveen
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

The whole trajectory of the actor abduction case, which culminated in Dileep’s arrest today, calls for a much-needed correction in the script of one of Malayalam cinema’s biggest hits — ‘Drishyam’. The chain of events in that film starts with a guy filming Georgekutty (the character played by Mohanlal)’s daughter with a hidden camera placed in the bathroom. He starts blackmailing the daughter and the mother with that clip. The blackmailing leads to his accidental death at their hands, which is the reason for the entire cover-up drama, which forms a major part of the film.

Now, if the girl had told him straightaway that she would report him to the police and challenged him to do whatever he can do with the clip, there was hardly any need for all the drama that followed. But, here, the girl was bearing all the guilt of being filmed by the pervert. If the public knows about this, she and her mother thought, it is she who would be shamed in front of the world, and not the pervert. Quite natural that they think that way in a state where the word still used for sexual assault is “Maanabhangam” (Loss of honour).

It is this idea around honour that the actor who was abducted and sexually assaulted challenged by going ahead with the case. The conspirator who made the hired goons film the act thought that he could blackmail her with it, make it about her honour and force her to do his bidding. He never expected her to hit back and drag his “honour” through the dirt.

S.R.Praveen

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https://www.facebook.com/praveen.stoneage

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