It is with great shame that I write this article in 2018 about fat shaming, colour shaming, sexism and the practice of marrying a first cousin that are still very very prevalent in mainstream Tollywood films. All these issues, in my opinion, should have been addressed, done and dusted decades ago. And, yet here we are. I barely see any movie reviews or articles directly addressing these issues. I honestly want to know the reason for such a blatant disregard for social issues. Has such depiction become so acceptable because it is in line with people's thought process? Or, is it merely that there are not enough people to speak up regarding movies being made in such a bad taste?
Let us address these issues one after the other:
Fat shaming: I just don't understand why filmmakers think that it is funny to cast an obese person in the movie just for the sake of calling him/her fat in front of a movie theater full of audience. From the days of 'Iron Leg' Shastri (famous for his roles as 'Iron Leg') to Krishnudu & Vidyu Raman, there is no shortage of films which have characters for the sole purpose of fat shaming. A typical fat shaming scene involves an obese person eating a lot of food with an elephant trumpet being played in the background. Some films even show an earthquake happening when a heavy person walks. Really?? An earthquake because an obese person walks around? Why don't we have more earthquakes and tsunamis every single day because of all the obese people in this world? It is just not funny, and the filmmakers need to use some common sense when making movies.
I am sure that all the actors who were cast in such a roles also feel this way, and I think they continue to accept such roles just to get some foothold in the highly competitive movie industry. But, it is about time that they stop acting in such roles and send a message to the filmmakers that it is not cool to make fun of obese people anymore.
I am sure that all the actors who were cast in such a roles also feel this way, and I think they continue to accept such roles just to get some foothold in the highly competitive movie industry. But, it is about time that they stop acting in such roles and send a message to the filmmakers that it is not cool to make fun of obese people anymore.
Colour shaming: If you are in search for the most racist movie industry that ever existed on this planet, you don't need to search hard. It is Tollywood, hands down (the whole Indian movie industry as a matter of fact is racist, but I am not going beyond Tollywood for the purpose of staying in line with the whole article here). If you need the proof, watch the video here. ‘Black pig’, ‘black dog’, ‘black crow’, ‘coal face’, ‘tar face’, ‘black fellow’ are the words used to make fun of someone who has a darker skin. Isn't it ironic that this colour shaming is happening in a country where majority of the people worship dark-skinned Rama & Krishna as Gods? There is even a Telugu lullaby that starts with the words 'Rama Laali, Megha Shyama Laali...', which literally means 'Oh dear Rama, oh dear cloud & dark coloured Rama...'. So, there are instances of dark colour being appreciated in the mythology, and yet we see a paradoxical society now that seems to think that dark skin is inferior and deplorable!
I genuinely wanted to address this issue a couple of years ago because it was bothering me so much that people didn't even care about such blatant colour shaming. I spent a lot of time in collecting and editing clips from many films and have put together that Youtube video at that time I expected the video to start at least some kind of conversation about colour shaming and also hoped that it would go viral in this day and age that is heavily influenced by social media in many many ways. The video could just pick up 260 views in just 2 years with 0 comments. I have shared it on facebook & twitter, but people barely cared about it. I messaged celebrities' fb accounts and some popular media websites and their fb pages about the video and asked them to share it to raise some awareness about such a shameful yet acceptable practices, but none of them got back to me.
Again, I ask the same question. Is it because people don't care about such racism because they are racists themselves? Or, is it because they lack the interest to address such an issue? Regardless of the reasons, I think it is high-time that this colour shaming is put to an end.
I genuinely wanted to address this issue a couple of years ago because it was bothering me so much that people didn't even care about such blatant colour shaming. I spent a lot of time in collecting and editing clips from many films and have put together that Youtube video at that time I expected the video to start at least some kind of conversation about colour shaming and also hoped that it would go viral in this day and age that is heavily influenced by social media in many many ways. The video could just pick up 260 views in just 2 years with 0 comments. I have shared it on facebook & twitter, but people barely cared about it. I messaged celebrities' fb accounts and some popular media websites and their fb pages about the video and asked them to share it to raise some awareness about such a shameful yet acceptable practices, but none of them got back to me.
Again, I ask the same question. Is it because people don't care about such racism because they are racists themselves? Or, is it because they lack the interest to address such an issue? Regardless of the reasons, I think it is high-time that this colour shaming is put to an end.
Sexism: A regular movie goer in the Telugu states is no stranger to dialogues in Telugu films such as 'Gajulu todukkuni koorchunnava?' (which means 'Are you wearing bangles?'), clearly directed to insult a man by comparing him to a woman & 'Neelo magathanam entha vundi?' (which means 'how manly are you?) before some fight sequences in which the lead actor bashes 20 guys at a time to prove his 'magathanam' (manliness). Yes, you read that right! When trying to direct an insult at a man in Telugu films, a common way to do that is to ask him to wear bangles and ask him to go to do some cooking in the kitchen. I don't want to go on listing all the great achievements of women in the history of human life to show that women are no less than men in every imaginable walk of life, because, if you still believe that a woman's place is in the kitchen and not outside that, I pity your ignorance and arrogance.
This blatant sexism in Tollywood movies needs to end now. There is no 'tomorrow' when it comes to ending such shameful practices in mainstream movies that are watched by crores of people.
This blatant sexism in Tollywood movies needs to end now. There is no 'tomorrow' when it comes to ending such shameful practices in mainstream movies that are watched by crores of people.
In addition to all the above, I have to call out another movie called 'Raja The Great' for ticking one more box of 'Disability Shaming'. For all the hype that the movie had leading up to its release, with a star like Ravi Teja playing the role of a blind person, one would expect that the plight of blind people is going to be given some importance with the idea of raising some awareness. I have also watched a talk show (which Ravi Teja visited as part of his movie promotions) where Ravi Teja interacts with a few blind people on stage and talks to them in a sensible manner sympathizing with their disability. The movie turned out to be a rude shock to me because it had anything but empathy towards blind people. Almost every other scene in the movie has a dialogue by other actors in the movie directed towards Ravi Teja in the lines of 'Neeku kallu levu kada ra, nuvvu em cheyyagalavu?' (which means 'Dude, you don't have eye sight. How are going to do this?') in a sarcastic manner. Why film a movie with a disabled person in the lead role and then let other characters make fun of the lead actor's disability? One scene in the movie where Ravi Teja's character plays Kabaddi needs a special mention. During a game of Kabaddi, Ravi Teja taunts his opponents by saying 'Era, cheera, jacket, malle poolu temmantara ra? todugguntara?' (which means 'Should I get you saree, blouse and jasmine flowers?'). Do you see the irony? A disabled person making sexist comments! Moreover, the filmmaker shows clear intent with such a dialogue that women are not fit to play sports in his opinion. Does he know that the only medal winners for India at 2016 Rio Olympics were 2 women while all the men failed to win a single medal? Need I say more about how ignorant the filmmaker is?
Marrying a first cousin or uncle: It is about time we talk about the 'bava-maradalu' romance that is very very common in Tollywood films. Having studied genetics as part of school curriculum, seeing such romance between 'bava' and 'maradalu' (first cousins) on screen makes me sick to my stomach. A few movies make that sick feeling far worse by showing an uncle-niece romance. That's right, you will see a girl romancing and marrying her mother's brother. Though the instances of uncle-niece romance in films have gone down lately, the first cousin romance is very much prevalent and can be found in almost all the mainstream films.
Anyone who has basic knowledge of genetics knows that having a kid with someone closely related just increases the chance of their offspring inheriting a genetic defect than if the offspring were born to two persons that are not related. The very reason incest is out of practice and prohibited is because a person's sibling shares 50% of that person's DNA and lack of genetic diversity results in greater chance of inheriting an existing genetic defect. First cousin is not very far from a sibling, and shares 25% of the DNA with you. Unbeknownst of the concepts of genetics, our ancestors figured out the sibling part many generations ago and that is why sibling marriages were not a practice for a long long time. But, all this new knowledge of genetics that humans gained over the past 100 years clearly shows that marrying a first cousin is half as bad as marrying a sibling. In fact, marrying a first cousin who shares that much DNA is banned in many states of the US and is also ruled a criminal offense in a few states.
So, why are we still seeing the first sibling romance and marriages in mainstream Telugu movies? I don't think it is lack of knowledge. In my opinion, it is just the lack of progressive thinking. It is hard to imagine that Trivikram Srinivas, a mainstream Telugu filmmaker, who is a Gold Medalist in M.Sc (Nuclear Physics) from Andhra University, does not know these very basics of genetics. Yet, you can see that many of his movies have first cousins in the lead roles romancing each other and eventually marrying.
The most concerning part to me is the fact that such a first cousin romance is so prevalent in mainstream movies. Mind you, mainstream movies have crores of people watching all over the 2 Telugu states and across the world. Would it even strike to an average audience (with not much knowledge about genetics) that marrying a first cousin is just half as bad as marrying his/her own sibling? Marrying someone closely related was a prevalent practice in many countries and societies until a little over a hundred years ago. But, that was because of lack of knowledge and research regarding genetics. What excuse do the Telugu filmmakers have now? The world has learnt from all the genetics research and moved past such harmful practices. And yet, here we are watching two first cousins romance on screen, marrying and having kids as if that is completely normal.
Conclusion:
If we are still talking about ending shameful practices and regressive thinking in 2018, it means that we are already ages behind the rest of the developed countries in terms of progress. We should never have to wait for 'tomorrow' to end all the above mentioned practices. They need to end today. Start a conversation. Spread the word. Let the word reach the filmmakers and let them know that it is not okay to depict fat shaming, colour shaming, sexism and first cousin romance in their movies.
Marrying a first cousin or uncle: It is about time we talk about the 'bava-maradalu' romance that is very very common in Tollywood films. Having studied genetics as part of school curriculum, seeing such romance between 'bava' and 'maradalu' (first cousins) on screen makes me sick to my stomach. A few movies make that sick feeling far worse by showing an uncle-niece romance. That's right, you will see a girl romancing and marrying her mother's brother. Though the instances of uncle-niece romance in films have gone down lately, the first cousin romance is very much prevalent and can be found in almost all the mainstream films.
Anyone who has basic knowledge of genetics knows that having a kid with someone closely related just increases the chance of their offspring inheriting a genetic defect than if the offspring were born to two persons that are not related. The very reason incest is out of practice and prohibited is because a person's sibling shares 50% of that person's DNA and lack of genetic diversity results in greater chance of inheriting an existing genetic defect. First cousin is not very far from a sibling, and shares 25% of the DNA with you. Unbeknownst of the concepts of genetics, our ancestors figured out the sibling part many generations ago and that is why sibling marriages were not a practice for a long long time. But, all this new knowledge of genetics that humans gained over the past 100 years clearly shows that marrying a first cousin is half as bad as marrying a sibling. In fact, marrying a first cousin who shares that much DNA is banned in many states of the US and is also ruled a criminal offense in a few states.
So, why are we still seeing the first sibling romance and marriages in mainstream Telugu movies? I don't think it is lack of knowledge. In my opinion, it is just the lack of progressive thinking. It is hard to imagine that Trivikram Srinivas, a mainstream Telugu filmmaker, who is a Gold Medalist in M.Sc (Nuclear Physics) from Andhra University, does not know these very basics of genetics. Yet, you can see that many of his movies have first cousins in the lead roles romancing each other and eventually marrying.
The most concerning part to me is the fact that such a first cousin romance is so prevalent in mainstream movies. Mind you, mainstream movies have crores of people watching all over the 2 Telugu states and across the world. Would it even strike to an average audience (with not much knowledge about genetics) that marrying a first cousin is just half as bad as marrying his/her own sibling? Marrying someone closely related was a prevalent practice in many countries and societies until a little over a hundred years ago. But, that was because of lack of knowledge and research regarding genetics. What excuse do the Telugu filmmakers have now? The world has learnt from all the genetics research and moved past such harmful practices. And yet, here we are watching two first cousins romance on screen, marrying and having kids as if that is completely normal.
Conclusion:
If we are still talking about ending shameful practices and regressive thinking in 2018, it means that we are already ages behind the rest of the developed countries in terms of progress. We should never have to wait for 'tomorrow' to end all the above mentioned practices. They need to end today. Start a conversation. Spread the word. Let the word reach the filmmakers and let them know that it is not okay to depict fat shaming, colour shaming, sexism and first cousin romance in their movies.
