Successful Indian women and how they are portrayed in Tamil entertainment

Was passing by the TV when my mom was watching Vani Rani series the other day. A scene that mirrors Rajinikanth’s Mannan happened. A lady boss portrayed as haughty slaps her male employee that saves her life by handling her physically. The guy slaps her back and pinpoints her ‘thimuru.’ (callousness). And then, the lady boss wants to marry him to exact revenge. I cringed and decided to write the following.

There are so few strong & successful women portrayed in mainstream Tamil entertainment, and if they are, they are portrayed to be conceited and almost always, a man is assigned to take them by the horns and subdue them.

And, this extends to real life - padicha timiru, sambathikra nu thimuru, panakari thimuru, (callous because highly educated, earning and rich). No one calls a man who is highly educated, earning well and rich thimuru, only women. Thence, whenever an Indian woman is even slightly off from the Padaiyappa ideals on how a woman should be, she will be tried to be brought into submission.

Tamil movie makers really need to come out of the age old mould that has been created for successful women, that they are conceited and not how a pombele should be. This gives an impression that success and women don’t go hand in hand, that somehow, success strips off a woman of all her feminine traits. In Padaiyappa, Rajini goes at Neelambari, “Neenge oru ambalaya kalyanam pannikanum nu aasai paduringge, naa oru pombeleye kalyana pannikanum nu aasai padren.” (You wish to marry a man, I wish to marry a woman.) While Neelambari is wrong for attributing ambala traits to Padayappa, Padayappa is also wrong to imply how a woman should be, meek, submissive and having inhibitions and that those values are held in higher regard than education, career and independence..

Successful Indian women are not the personification of hegemony. Portraying them as such in Tamil mainstream entertainment is damaging. Don’t confuse than nambikai (self confidence) with thimuru (callousness). Change the way you see strong, successful and outspoken women.

Tamil movies should really stop portraying powerful women as thimuru and hence needing a man to subdue them and that only weak women who are coy are desirable. Padayappa was released in 1998 and in 2016 we are seeing an unchanging trend which is only getting worse. Ithu engge poyi mudiya potho.. (Where will this lead to?)