Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Portrayal of violence A cause for concern

Says director Mysskin of Chithiram Pesuthadi fame: “Violence is not a new trend; it has always been part of our lives. Even the Ramayana and the Mahabharata had their share of battles and bloodshed. You need bullets and blood to show how serious the repercussions of violence are.”

Film buffs say that as long as it is realistic, violence is acceptable. “Out of every 100 movies, 20 are based on gangster themes. In movies such as Thotti Jaya and Pudupettai, personal vendetta is the reason for violence. But in Vettaiyadu Vilayadu, violence is glorified for no reason. There is no justification for the characters in the film taking pleasure in chopping fingers off and murdering people,” says S. Kamala Kannan, president, Cinema Club of Coimbatore. He has worked as an assistant director for filmmaker Seenu Ramasamy, who made Koodal Nagar.

According to Mysskin, while in real time, stabbing or roughing up someone lasts only a few minutes, in movies, the time is stretched and it gets exaggerated.

Violence in mass appeal movies, such as Sami or Pokkiri, tends to have a limited impact on the audience.

“Because, there is no element of realism in such movies. Everyone knows it is impossible for a man to beat up 50 people,” he adds.

Not just the portrayal of violence, justifying it is also a cause for concern. If movies such as Thulluvatho Ilamai portray sexual violence and target teenagers, Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyadu… justify encounter-based violence. Exaggerated physical violence also promotes the trend of verbal violence.

There are fine human emotions and societal values, why aren’t these highlighted, asks filmmaker R.R.Srinivasan, who is involved in the film appreciation movement in South India.

“Be it Veyil, Pithamagan or Paruththi Veeran, the films use violence as a tool to lure the youth. When physical violence is exaggerated on screen, it increases violence in society. Some movies promote caste-based violence too,” he adds. So, the onus is on the filmmakers to choose the right theme. “They choose violence because it sells,” says Srinivasan.

Films promote violence as a tool to resolve conflicts, says Rakesh S. Katarey of the Amrita Institute of Communication, who is also a documentary filmmaker. “In Ram Gopal Varma’s films, a pistol is not just an inanimate object of violence, it is called a ghoda or horse, a creature of supreme grace,” he points out.

If alternative cinema works towards removing violence from society, commercial cinema promotes it.

“In Govind Nihalani’s Ardh Satya, the filmmaker delves deep into the psyche of the protagonist (the violent policeman played by Om Puri), and analyses the unorganised police system that breeds such policemen. His film Aaghat handled violence in labour union politics. Shyam Benegal’s Ankur is another example. Such films deal with structural and systematic differences in society that give birth to violence,” says Katarey. Death and violence arise out of a systematic denial of land, food, health and education on the basis of caste, class, gender and governance or the lack of it, and this remains largely unexplored, he says.

But, there is hope. “Lage Raho Munnabhai is a shining example. Unless commercial films popularise peace as a tool to resolve conflict, people will continue to believe only in violence,” he adds. “As long as the creator gives a sincere presentation, it is acceptable,” says T.S. Prabhu, programme producer, Sun TV, who made Kathiyinri Rathaminri Oru Thirai Kalam, a short film on the growing violence in Tamil films.

In Mysskin’s words, everything depends on the creator’s ability. “Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai portrays violence in a subtle way and Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List leaves a direct stamp of violence. I refrained from showing blood in my film. I projected vanmurai as menmurai.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

---

---