Why not-so-fallen star Dileep is just a symptom of misogyny in the Malayalam film industry
The problem of gender discrimination runs deep, and extends to how we make and consume ‘entertainment’
As far as falls from grace go, this one has been somewhat cushioned. Dileep, one of the reigning stars of the Malayalam film industry, is currently awaiting trial for his alleged role as the mastermind of the February 2017 abduction and rape of a prominent woman actor. When Dileep was arrested in July 2017 and the charges against him became public knowledge, he was widely condemned by the film fraternity and expelled from the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
A year or so down the line, though, something seems to have changed.
Dileep was reinstated into the AMMA (with the claim that he was “innocent until proven guilty”), followed closely by a flurry of justifications for this move, and other members of the film industry speaking out in his defence (see here, here and here).
However, there has been outrage from other quarters, with the AMMA being called out for its misogyny and several women actors voicing their protest. Four prominent Malayalam actors, including the survivor, quit the AMMA and 50 members of the Kannada film industry sent a letter of condemnation to the organisation.
On a recent evening, an assortment of journalists, actors and theatre artists from the Kannada and Malayalam film industries came together at the East Cultural Association in Bangalore for a group discussion and movie screening arranged by the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The News Minute, Dhanya Rajendran, and veteran journalist & author, Gita Aravamudan. The agenda: to unpack the sexism in the Malayalam film industry in the context of Dileep’s reinstatement into AMMA.
“WHAT ABOUT THE SWEEPER, THE DANCER OR THE EXTRA? WILL SHE BE ABLE TO CREATE THE SAME MEDIA STORM [AS THE SURVIVOR IN THE DILEEP CASE]? WHERE WILL THE HUNDREDS OF WOMEN WHO FACE EVERYDAY SEXISM AND SEXUAL ASSAULT GO?” — GITA ARAVAMUDAN, AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST
Aravamudan, who writes frequently about gender inequality, made the point that Dileep is a symptom of a larger malaise and that women artists are often left without recourse due to the specific power structures of the male-dominated film industry. “If a software engineer is sexually harassed by her colleagues, she can approach her senior leaders or the HR. But in the film industry, who do you complain to?” she said.
The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) was formed with this purpose in mind — to create an authority to address the grievances of women. The survivor in the Dileep case is a member of the WCC too, but Aravamudan noted that not every victim might have as much clout as her. “What about the sweeper, the dancer or the extra? Will she be able to create the same media storm? Where will the hundreds of women who face everyday sexism and sexual assault go?”
Aravamudan also spoke about the stereotypes surrounding women in the industry — especially the dancers, the stylists and the extras. “A dancer or an extra who does a ‘club dance’ in a movie may be seen as ‘easy’ or of ‘loose character’ to male technicians, actors and directors on the sets. What they [these men] don’t understand is that… it’s part of her profession to dress or dance in a certain way.”
Akshata, a theatre artist from the Kannada entertainment industry, made a similar point: “It is people who do the smaller roles that face the worst problems…These big heroes, they are a part of the problem. When they don’t use their voice to condemn the crime, they take part in the abuse.”
The cinema itself mirrors prevailing sexist stereotypes in society, while also reinforcing them. Aravamudan pointed out that most stories are told with a male gaze since not enough women (with a couple of notable exceptions) are at the top. The storylines of many female characters, she said, provide some telling clues — even those that are shown as bold and defying convention at the beginning of the movie are eventually broken down and fit into an ‘acceptable’ mould. Here, Aravamudan brought up the example of Ente Upasana, a 1984 Mammootty and Suhasini starrer, which is a “glorified rape film.” The female lead, Lathika, is raped and impregnated by a friend’s brother, Arjunan. When she moves into a new city with her son, she is shocked to find that her rapist is her new boss. The happy ending? The survivor, her son and the rapist become a family unit.
“IF THE HERO SAYS A WOMAN-BASHING DIALOGUE OR STALKS A WOMAN, WE THINK IT’S OK.” — DHANYA RAJENDRAN, CO-FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE NEWS MINUTE
There is also a need to represent men — particularly the male lead, who if he is a star may be revered by the audience — in a better light. Rajendran noted that there’s a paradox at play: if a villain makes a comment about rape or tries to commit a crime, the audience reacts negatively, but “if the hero says a woman-bashing dialogue or stalks a woman, we think it’s ok”.
Dileep may have become the poster child of misogyny in the Malayalam film industry at this point, but we also need to take a clear-eyed look at what we produce in the name of entertainment and how easily we consume it. Dileep’s stardom rests on films with a brand of comedy that is tasteless at best and pays homage to rape culture at worst, as this list of some of his best-loved and most misogynistic blockbusters makes clear. He banks (and how — there were reports his arrest would cause a loss of up to Rs 60 crore in the Malayalam film industry) on his image as the guy next door, but one could say that in this part of the world, the guy next door, along with the powers that be in the film industry, share virulently sexist views.
While Harvey Weinstein became a virtual pariah once he could no longer dodge multiple allegations of sexual abuse, with men and women in Hollywood speaking out against him openly, Dileep invited as much sympathy as he did opprobrium. And while the AMMA at first unleashed an outpouring of support for the victim, complete with a candlelight march, this changed when Dileep’s name appeared in the chargesheet. Suddenly, he was “innocent until proven guilty” and taken back into the fold. Money is part of this equation, and so is power, but so is the mindset that what Dileep did wasn’t really so bad — a forgivable act of naughtiness, never mind he stands accused of conspiracy, criminal intimidation, abduction and gang-rape.
