Telugu filmmakers, why is it so hard for you to respect women?

Intro: Annapurna Sunkara, in her vlog ���Telugu films should change���, which has gone viral
Imagine this: a boy from Hyderabad sees the picture of a girl from Delhi on Facebook. He falls in love with her, and hopes to meet her some day. He works hard, saves money, goes through a lot of hardships to travel to Delhi. On going there, he finds out that she is an officer in the Indian Army, she wears the army uniform.He���s disappointed. In his imagination, she always wore a sari or a langa voni! So, in broad daylight he decides to disrobe her; he strips her off her uniform and drapes her in a sari, just so she becomes the woman of his dreams. Tell me, how many of you think this is okay? Do you find it romantic? And if this happened to a woman in your family, would you then think it���s alright for the two of them to get married?��� asks Telugu girl Annapurna Sunkara, in her 12-minute video which has been shared over 65,000 times in the last 48 hours. ���If you are not okay with this, then how can you glorify that scene from Bahubali in which Prabhas disrobes Tamannaah? It���s the same thing; it���s sexual abuse, plain and simple,��� she fumes.
this is just one of the many pertinent questions, Annapurna, a self-confessed film buff asks in her video, which is directed at both fans and filmmakers. ���It is just a simple question ��� why don���t Telugu filmmakers respect women? Or for that matter, respect people in general?,��� she asks, listing out a series of instances where Tollywood heroes brandish their ���heroics��� by slapping women around, beating up senior citizens twice their age, making fun of gay people... the list goes on.
���In Dookudu, Mahesh Babu comments on Samantha���s ���colour���, hinting that she���s darker than him. In Pandaga Chesko, a 60-year-old Brahmanandam tries to rape a 20-something Sonal Chouhan. In Surya Vs Surya, they want you to believe that a girl will fall for a guy only if he risks his life. How in the world is this entertaining?��� questions Annapurna, in what���s a ���sincere appeal to audiences and filmmakers to stop tolerating this mindless misogyny and sexism in our movies.���
But she has been watching Telugu movies all her life, so what really triggered the anger now? ���Three things happened in span of 24 hours,��� she says. ���I saw my parents feeling awfully uncomfortable while watching tv when comedian Ali started speaking something derogatory. He routinely passes comments on women���s clothes, body parts etc. I watched Sye that very afternoon and realised that since 2004, Rajamouli, inspite of growing as a film maker in so many aspects, hasn���t evolved an inch when it comes to his take on eve teasing. he still hasn���t realised that degrading a woman doesn���t make a guy a hero. I then watched an online debate about an article which said what Prabhas did in Baahubali by disrobing Tamanaah was wrong. So many fans actually endorsed that scene; they said that it was ���aesthetically��� sensible! Really, what���s aesthetic about sexual abuse?���
Ironically, the very misogyny that Annapurna is lashing out against is displayed in the string of comments her video has been attracting. They are sexist, spiteful and derogatory. She has been attacked personally too. ���I have received several hate messages. ���Cinema is supposed to be entertaining, cinema is supposed to sell,��� they chide me. The worst comments are the ones which are personal and target womenkind. One man told me, ���You don���t even dress like a girl, so how can you talk about women���; another asked: ���Why don���t you speak about anchor Anasuya���s dress sense before you judge cinema���. What I understand is people are blinded by their love towards cinema and cricket. If someone dares to voice an opinion, they claim it���s for attention. How ridiculous is that!��� That said, she���s happy that she has had her fair share of supporters too. Actor-artist Kamal Kamaraju for instance, shared the video with an introspective note: ���Don���t know who this girl is but kudos to her. It���s not just about films, even as a society we are not gender sensitive. And it reflects when movie makers tell stories. ��� A lot of young movie-goers and short filmmakers are also coming forward with words of encouragement, she says. ���I would do a thousand videos and go through ten times more criticism to read positive messages like these. I even received messages from some actors who were very popular comedians in our industry. They confessed that they can���t work anymore because they are not okay with the vulgarity in shows.���
The characters written for heroines are so uni-dimensional. Either she is extremely wicked or really sweet ��� the vamp-angel dichotomy. The ���sweet and innocent��� character always gets the guy. The free spirited, independent characters are relegated to being the second heroine like the rebellious girl I played in Mr Perfect. Why? Because the filmmakers say that���s how a majority of women in real life are, which is why the audiences accept them. I have lost many typical A-list projects because they can���t imagine me as a sweet, innocent girl. Big movies like Bahubali with two big male leads barely leaves any scope for a woman to perform. They had a brilliant performer like Tamannaah who I really respect and look up to. I am hoping she would come into the picture more in the second part of the movie. I read about what was written about her role. However, this is completely in contrast to how actresses are treated off-screen. In Tollywood, they are pampered a lot. I hope that reflects in the roles written for us too. ��� Taapsee, Actress
I agree that things need to change. I have in many instances stood my ground about insensitive portrayals. But unfortunately I have lost in many cases. We have only so much power. The other choice is to not be a part of the industry which means unemployment. I think it is unfair to hold the industry entirely at fault. We as a society have been insensitive to women���s rights. But how do we start? Where do we start? Who will start? All these years, the differences ��� male-female, darkfair, differences of sexual orientation and like, have been used to yield a control. It���s time to celebrate the differences. ��� Jayakrishna Gummadi, national award-winning cinematographer