From Subjugation to Subversion : Tracing the Trajectory of Female Resistance in selected Malayalam Cinema

From Subjugation to Subversion: Tracing the Trajectory of Female Resistance in selected Malayalam Cinema

Elsa Mariam Abraham

            The concept and representation of female resistance in Malayalam cinema has been a subject that has been deepened over the course of time by its evolution on characters inspired by the roles and situations of real life. The change has been aided by societal change, gender dynamics, socio and political changes with time. From the early 1950’s when Malayalam cinema was stepping foot in the film industry, it portrayed women as “sacrificial figures”, “embodiment of tragedy”  right from that time of reality as socially and ideally signified wives, daughter and sister, who are bent to follow the highly traditional and moral patriarchal society it was then. Women were portrayed as characters that endure and survive structural violence for the sake of family name and children. They didn’t know how to live and resist situations that subjugated them. The characters in films like Neelakuyil (1954) and Rathinirvedam (1978) are classic examples of the oppression and helplessness women had to face by the patriarchal system of that time. During that time, women were unable to recognise the traits of female resistance in them as they are traditionally brought up and systematically trained to be a subject to the patriarchal system. Their emotions and small acts of resistance were confined to the constraints of the four walls they were in. The women in these films are put out as characters that endure hardship with patience. There was very minimal indirect and direct resistance, but there wasn’t any active form of defiance from their side which allowed the society to harnish them over. This was the common theme rather manipulation that was found during that time was the dismissal of women’s emotional suffering considering the fact that resistance was an individual's subjective feeling rather than an over action on that time when women were enforced with societal and familial norms. (Joseph, Bindhu. “Women in Malayalam Cinema: Naturalising Gender Hierarchies.” Journal of South Asian Studies, vol. 34, no. 2, 2016, pp. 145–158.) The 1980’s time period started to witness the emergence of strong female characters in the Malayalam cinema. Even though their female resistance was largely controlled by the societal and cultural norms of that time, there were traces of female resistance and it was largely implicit rather than explicit. Filmmakers like G. Aravindan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan created female characters giving more power to their agency in films like Chidambharam (1985) and Vidheyan (1993) showing women as more self aware and resistant during the time of adversities inflicting complexity in the films. In 1990’s there was a shift in the way filmmakers started to portray the female characters in the films. Women started to be recognised in the films, from mere supporting characters in the films to active roles coming against men through independent filmmakers such as Priyadrashan and Sathiyan Anthikad. Films such as Manichithratazhu (1993) and Kilukkam (1996) portrayed women in depth, giving them autonomy over their female agency. More feminist tales emerged in 2000’s resisting familial, societal and cultural norms of that time period implicitly and explicitly. Women were not only assertive in personal lives but actively resisted oppressive forces on the big screen. One good example that can be taken is the character of Gnaga played by Shobhana in Manichithrathazhu. She exemplifies a multifaceted and self reliant woman who fights back to the oppressive forces of the patriarchal society in a psychological way. In Films like Perumazhakalam women are represented as supporting each other as both the characters in the film face almost the same adversity in their lives. From 2010’s women were portrayed as active agents in their lives, films like Rani Padmini (2014), Puthiya Niyamam (2016), Take Off (2017), Uyare (2019), The Great Indian Kitchen (2021) the female characters showcased different kinds of female resistance from opposing gender based discrimination in both personal and professional lives claiming their autonomy overtly and covert forms of revolt.