ARJUN REDDY: The Savarna Masculine Fantasy and Dehumanization of Women
Contains spoilers.
CW: TW: Sexism, Misogyny, Rape
The movie Arjun Reddy has received rave reviews. I was curious to see this ‘landmark movie’ and watched it online only to be disgusted within 5 minutes of the movie. I don’t know if this movie can be appreciated because it shows premarital sex in a mainstream movie. And the men who celebrate it, I think do so, because the woman still ‘untouched’ comes back to the man she has sex with carrying his baby while the man has ‘whored’ around. This is not ground breaking. This is what is shown in every movie and this movie continues this fantasy.
The movie begins with Arjun’s family singing his praise. The very next scene he wakes up, dips his half-empty alcohol bottle in a community overhead water tank (to hell with all the people drinking alcohol soaked water).
He immediately goes to a woman’s house (the scene is replete with english music because the woman he sleeps with is not his wife/gf and english music subtexts as promiscious, lust-driven) where she looks at him with desire and he doesn’t and can’t even wait for her to remove her clothes. It’s important to see here that the woman is shown looking at him with desire (first step of movie to show arjun is a popular ladies’ man) but the hero with his cool shades is shown as cold and unassuming (essential to be a ladies’ man according to Indian movies).
His next words are ‘ey, remove it’ after undressing himself hurriedly. She tries to open her top but he says “not the top” just the “pants” in a disrespectful way. He finally takes a knife and cuts off the strings of the pant. One would think that he can just insert his penis in a fruit because that’s all he seems to be looking for - A HOLE.
The doorbell rings, lights go off, music goes off and she pleads with him, to go away as her fiánce is at the door. Mind you, she has to PLEAD. She has no agency to tell him to get out. And plead him, she does multiple times while Arjun just doesn’t listen. He takes a knife and asks her to undress. Yes, that’s the level of depravity and violence depicted. Sex at knifepoint which is Rape. Let’s make no mistake. Here, in this scene, arjun’s face is shown while the woman’s face is not (another dismissal where the audience has no idea what the woman might feel being held at knife point with a man she trusted to be vulnerable and have sex).
We see only Arjun’s desparation and entitlement for sex, not the woman’s fear. I shudder to think, if a man like this goes to a sex worker and she refuses to have sex, what he would do?
Suddenly the music and lights come on and as if in a trance, Arjun realizes it’s a mistake and drops the knife (another half ass way to show, arjun he is not a bad guy because he ‘realized’ his mistake). No apology to the woman. Nothing. He comes in through the back door but purposefully swaggers through the front door. The hero still has to punish the woman who refused to give into his raging sex desire. (We all know what the men who watch this scene think. That because she is a woman with a fiánce who is sleeping with another man, it’s okay that the hero pointed a knife at her, after all he didn’t kill her).
Animal Over Human, Veg, Non-Veg, the eternal savarna dilemma
There is no context to a scene where his dog eats chicken (they don’t show it, wonder why? because savarnas think eating non-vegetarian food is that horrible?) and he asks the dog ‘you never ate chicken before’. (Maybe context is explained later in the film, maybe some connection with the girlfriend. Yet, this is the shittiest way where savarna vegans force their food choice on a poor animal like dogs/cats who later have nutrition problems in their old age).
He seems to treat the dog better than the help as he speaks to her condescendingly and disrespectfully the entire time. A completely expected and all too reality of how savarnas treat the help working in their home like shit. He says “stop smirking or I will wipe it off your face”.
The Indian Mad Men Scenario in 2017
There are also scenes which amplify the grown man-baby he is. Like this one where his colleaugue at the hospital has to mark the amount of alcohol and keep it ready for him. He is a grown man and a surgeon who excepts to be waited hand and foot. And one woman tells the other woman “don’t get scolded” because somehow the woman is responsible for “not getting scolded” for a man-baby instead of calling out a shitty doctor who can’t responsiblity for himself.
Romanticization of Spitting and Brutal Violence
He is constantly spitting for no reason and the director has multiple close shots of this nonsense. Because clearly, that’s what we need. More romanticization of spitting in a country like India. And you can infact find gifs of ‘arjun reddy spit’ ‘arjun reddy abuse’. So, don’t tell me, that this has not had the impact.
He brutally beats up an opposition football contestant goaded on by his friend to ‘’break his mandible”.
The only opposition for this act is a girl, his peer whose does nothing more than scream “stop this yaa”. No other guy nor the organizers even come to stop this act of violence. We must remember this when men constantly say to us “women are women’s worst enemies”. Then what should we call scenes like this?
The Justification of an Abuser
The Dean calls him and talks to a first year student batch about how Arjun is a topper but has anger management issues. I would say that ‘anger management’ is a soft way of phrasing this behaviour.
But Arjun justifies himself by saying “football is a violent sport”. As an audience member, you wonder, whether it justifies breaking someone’s face for a game. And for just one punch given by the other guy, Arjun breaks his face, landing multiple punches. This act of aggressive action went over and beyond the intial punch. It was excessive.
After a very rousing speech which would leave no doubt he is the ‘hero’, and where he declares himself to have no regrets replete with triumphant music, his friend comes in and asks the student “show some bloody respect for the champion” and everyone stands up.
In another shocking scene, after Arjun Reddy comes out unable to have sex, he calls his friend asking if he can send a girl they know to his apartment. And what does this ‘best’ friend do? He says “don’t because, I introduced you to her”. Instead of condemning such behavior, it’s his reputation he is more worried about. This below is how a movie review applauded the ‘friends’.
“There’s excellent support from his friends. Rahul Ramakrishna as the buddy is impactful.” (from Hindu’s review).
No, what his friends and especially this friend are men who stand by and do nothing to help an obviously disturbed individual with deep-seated anger issues.
The only time any of his ‘friends’ showed a semblance of decency is in this scene where they all point fingers at the girl and calling her pretty and arjun’s friend remarks to his other ‘best’ friend: “She maybe is feeling embarrassed”. Congrats for the only person in this movie who is able to understand “gasp! women have feelings”. But of course, arjun’s best friend’s reply is “don’t like harassing women, then leave”.
A student like Arjun should have been suspended in any college and given psychiatric attention. More importantly, a medical school must know this. Instead he is just threatened with suspension, asked to write an apology letter to the chairman of the sports board and the dean or to leave the college.
Arjun, of course, like the hero refuses to do any of those and says he will leave the college. Even here, the Dean asks Arjun “did you even think about the college’s reputation”. It’s not the brutal violence caused by Arjun to a fellow student the Dean is worried about, it’s the reputation. This is another form of “log kya kahenge”.
Arjun doesn’t write the apology and after a seeing a first year student decides not to leave the college and goes around pissing and marking territory and telling his fellow boy students that she is his and the rest of boys can have the other girls and they will get ‘new opportunities’. All the threats of the Dean seem empty. He still seems to continue brazenly as before and one wonders why no action is taken against him.
Sexual harrassment Normalized as Romance
Sexual harrassment is potrayed as romance where he goes around the collge classrooms declaring the girl is his and asks his fellow senior boys and girls not to rag her. Because ragging is only a problem if someone close to the hero is the target. But let the other young girls and boys get ragged, that’s okay. A powerful identifier of how Indian society works, have connections and you will escape problems.
And the bonus is his parents oppose none of this problematic behaviour. When arjun says he got into a fight and says ‘’please ignore’’ the notice sent to parents from the college, his dad just nods his head. He doesn’t ask what his son did that would warrant a letter. They are supposed to be loving parents. And how fast we forget that the other young boy who was beaten also must have ‘loving parents’ who would be fuming at this.
The Pure, Innocent Savarna Love Interest
The heroine is wearing a white salwar kameez with a pink dupatta. Among the group is almost the only one wearing the dupatta around her shoulders covering her chest. Many women have abandoned this style and enough of our mothers have told about “why don’t you cover your chest”. This is clearly a potrayal of virtue and innocence.
While we see arjun being nothing but self-assured with all his flaws, we only see this heroine as a helpless timid baby amplied in this scene where he kisses her on the cheek. She expresses nothing. No anger for a man who she hardly knows, who was declaring that ‘she was his’. No disgust. Not even happiness (if anyone can feel that).
And his shitty ‘best’ friend calls his love interest: “ey pink scarf and signs to get tea for him and arjun”. What is arjun’s reaction? A guy who constantly verbally abuses other people and is violent? This.
It’s the look of “hey, I’m shocked at what you are saying but because you are my friend, I won’t say anything”. And this tea he so pompously asks is literally in front of them. Why couldn’t he go take it? Women should be of service or juniors should treat seniors like they are masters?
The Hero’s Peer Group of Women are Subservient to the Hero
In a humilaiting and traumatic experience for anyone, the women (seniors) in the hostel ask the first year girl students to remove their clothes in the hostel. A senior comes and warns the other two women that this girl is Arjun reddy’s ‘interest’ and threatens them with Arjun Reddy’s name. Because even the women ragging although they are in the same year as Arjun, will have to bow down to Arjun reddy. Why? Because he is man? MRA’s will say No. Or is it because he is a rowdy? Fans of this movie will say ‘he is not a rowdy’. So, why? Can anyone answer?
After bringing Preethi aside, the other girl says to her that if anyone rags or threatens her just say arjun’s name (say he is your cousin or boyfriend?) Prethi leaves and goes to play antakshari and thanks the girl. Why Preethi doesn’t use her newfound power to ask the ragging to completely stop is anyone’s guess.
If anyone wonders why ragging is prevalent and leads to suicide in many Indian colleges, it is because of movies like this which actively encourage, do nothing to condemn this behaviour and treats seniors as ‘Gods’ while they are just being immature jerks.
Who is Responsible for Shitty Women Characters?
I cannot fault the categorization of the women in the movie as this is arising primarily from the male gaze. Which is what we must remember when criticizing the women characters in the movie. This is the male perspective of what they want women to be. This is not how women actually behave when they face such situations.
The Quota and Caste Aspects
There are other instances of savarnization. Asking Preethi if she got in through a tulu quota and her father replying she is a rank holder (but doesn’t say her rank). And this was not even necessary as her father came to the college as he received complaints from his daughter about the stalkerish behaviour of a boy.
The father meets Arjun but he doesn’t ask why he went around declaring that his daughter was his. Instead they go into a tangent of ‘family friends’. Apparently, just know each others’ families because sexual harrassment by known people is totally okay.
Also, is this because of the idea the parents who have daughters walk on eggshells? Seems like that. The father seems more intimidated than Arjun, himself.
And the next instance where Arjun replying to Preethi’s father if he is a management quota student and he says his rank. A general dislike for quotas? To prove that they are indeed meritorious? That even though he has ‘anger’ issues he is such a good, studious boy. awwww.
Another instance is when the girl seniors come into the first year class room and point fingers at her and discuss among themselves “this is arjun reddy’s girl”. One girl calls her “ey, stand up” and asks “What’s your name?”
The girl replies, Preethi.
She says: Full name
Preethi says, Preethi Shetty
Senior: Oh, Mangalorean?
How was this relevant? I later read the synopsis on wikipedia that the father doesn’t agree to the marriage due to ‘caste’ differences. And herein lies the blatant hypocrisy of the savarnas.
They say caste doesn’t exist. They say that caste didn’t have a place in Indian system, it’s not mentioned in any vedas except the manusmriti. And these lines in the manusmirti about caste were infact added by the British to divide Indians.
So, why do we see movie after movie, continuously fixating on ‘caste surnames’. Why are there so few movies with a dalit ‘caste’ surname?
Why is there even a ‘caste problem’ in marriages between upper castes and mind you in this movie, both shetty and ‘reddy-deshmukh’ (arjun’s surname) are upper castes.
Movies hardly show upper caste and lower caste love/marriage problems. So, why are the upper castes propogating a system that was ‘instilled’ by the British? Why are multiple generations in the family so caste-obsessed?
It might seem like I have described every part of this movie. All this is just 0:35 mark of the movie. Yes, really. This is the extent of toxic masculinity, misogyny, internalized misogny, internalized sexism and sexism this movie depicts. And yet this movie is called pathbreaking, has a 9/10 rating on IMDB with 5 star rating (mostly from men) with rave reviews and is being remade in Tamizh.
Cite as:
(MLA 9) BRC. “Arjun Reddy: The Savarna Masculine Fantasy and Dehumanization of Women.” Medium, Medium, <access date>, https://medium.com/@B.R.C/arjun-reddy-the-savarna-masculine-fantasy-and-dehumanization-of-women-586e1a87552.
