Opens fresh vistas for the disprivileged

Southern cinema gets more inclusive

Mainstream cinema seems to have made tentative moves into getting more inclusive in recent times. The patrons of southern cinema in recent months have seen a couple of films in which transgender and gay characters take prominent screen space. In the news, more for its star appeal, the eclectic collection of skill sets from the music and cinematography departments, ‘Inkokkadu’, the Telugu dubbing of the Tamil film ‘Irumugan’ brought the issue into centrestage once again.

Vikram, a veteran Tamil film hero, equally popular in the local film market played the hero and the anti-hero, the latter, a stylised, effeminate gay named ‘Love’, as the film released on Sep 8 all over the world. Refusing to pander to the masala movie stereotypes where such characters are introduced only for cheap humour and subterranean sexual thrills, this film based itself strongly on the scheming villainy unleashed by Vikram, who brought a lot of flair and acceptability into the character.

That such a major name in the film world could be convinced into playing a sub-normal role was the first success, though the final performance of the film at the cash counters has been inconsistent across the Deccan plateau. Telugu film ‘Ardhanaari’ released in July, despite its relatively low-profile publicity, captured enough interest among the audience through word-of-mouth though having to pave way for the big banners to release their commercial ventures before it could fully exploit its potential.

A bold initiative by any standards, despite its box office compulsions, the film managed to strike a chord by raising the core issue of how transgender folks are treated and vulgarised for their form and physical attributes. What set this film apart was that the whole film spoke about this issue primarily, revealing its interesting twist to the proceedings only at the end. By then, the audience, expecting its fair share of titillation and raunchy scenes are led into a mood where they begin seeing these creatures of God in a humane light.

Deeply ingrained prejudices and resistance to accepting the LGBT people is universal in the world, with varying legal protection provided to them to enable them lead normal lives. However, a powerful mass media tool like cinema can help address their cause better for sure, however, self-serving the reasons may be. In our country, with fashion statements and personality quirks of people, largely influenced by the heroes and the heroines of the tinsel world over decades, such welfare messages, even if half-hearted can open fresh vistas for the disprivileged.