Inverse Karma

I recently saw an interview that was filmed a few years ago. It really provoked me and I sat down and I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. This post has gone through hundreds of revisions, really. Have a look at the video to know what I’m talking about and then read on.

Talk about globalization or experimentation in movies in this part of the globe and you can’t help mentioning Kamal Hassan. He is one of those rare species of actors who truly work hard to make Indian cinema global. But those of his kind have a hard-to-get-by hurdle in front of them – Tamil tradition.

A lot of people take offense at sensuality or violence on screen and defend their stance using “culture and tradition” as a shield (Tolerance is constantly getting higher, though). If Mallika Sherawat shouldn’t expose, then why isn’t anybody suing John Abraham for running around topless? Isn’t that male chauvinism? Keep in mind that a movie is a story being told – an experience. One certainly need not relate everything in it to his or her own life. It is up to our emotional and social maturity to analyze the good and the bad in a movie. After all, a movie is only a movie. A powerful movie will inspire you, motivate you and move you. But if you feel like toting a gun and killing someone after having watched Bad Boys 2, something is terribly wrong with you and you need to see a doctor right away. Don’t blame Shaktimaan if some stupid 10-year old jumped off a freaking skyscraper and died. Period.

South India being more conservative than the rest of the nation, comes down harder on “bold” movies. Why? The same excuse, but of the South Indian flavour. What do they know about Tamil tradition anyway? The earliest known text concerning social laws was the Manusmṛti, written in Sanskrit. Though not directly governing Tamil culture, it can be seen as a pretext to all of Indian cultural and social traditions. The Manusmṛti clearly states that as the society evolves, so should its laws. Get this!

A deity worshipped all over Tamilnadu has two wives. Would you call Tamil tradition polygamist then? Back in those days, all of India was largely patriarchal and their customs and tradition were not open to many western ideas. Keep aside the wealth of knowledge they’ve passed on to us and you’re glaring at a much flawed system – one which considered women only as cooks and child-bearing machines (smell Nazism?) and which divided people into castes. How could all that be relevant at present times? Its like asking us to move back into caves.
      Note: These flaws supposedly have not been dictated by any real laws, as a friend pointed out. Such inhumane ideas must arise from misinterpretations of religion, which after all advocates gender equality.

Chennai is widely acknowledged as the most conservative city in India, although the situation is slowly changing for the better. I believe Chennai is considered a socially underground city because of the strict conservatism especially prevalent in small towns (I live in one, and have enough experience in that department), or maybe because of what we studied in management – resistance to change, which is only human. My personal take is, why should anyone keep from holding hands if they want to? Shouldn’t other people be happy that two people looking for love have finally found it? Some of the common reactions to lovey-dovey couples going public and what it really implies:

      “Their parents don’t know how to raise kids” (You’re still living in the 16th century. You need to wake up!)
      “How indecent!” (You need to get laid)
      “Let them do whatever they want, I don’t care” (You need someone to take care of you)

Some years down the line, when I’m gonna have kids, I wouldn’t want them to be tied down by what the society thinks is right or wrong. Every generation is a natural progression from the previous, expanding in broad-mindedness. Ha, some consolation!

Welcome back amigo! Check out the homepage for latest posts or the archives for older posts.