Iraivi: An Anodyne Narrative – Feminist Approach

Abstract

In India, cinema becomes a powerful medium. The cinema deals with the problems to be addressed and the social issues that are of national concern, cultural goals to be proud of, and ideological possibilities to be defended and explored (Sardar, 1998, p. 22). Although Mumbai-based Bollywood is usually considered the Indian Hollywood and the capital of the film industry, it is the Chennai based Kollywood film industry that has the greatest impact on the masses. “It has become increasingly pervasive in almost all aspects of Tamil society and perhaps the most prominently in political life” (Hardgrave, 2008, p. 60). The narration in Tamil cinema reinforces the dominant social value in the society, presenting them as natural and this is consumed by the audience. The stereotypes of masculine domination and feminine submissionare portrayed, often justified, and occasionallychallenged in cinema, but the predominant images ofmale domination and female submission are generally reinforced by cinema. Many cinema narratives are stillimplicitly designed to be interpreted from the point ofview of male domination. Audiences, particularly the men, learn and identify with male characters and treat females as objects of pleasure. The girls on the other hand learn from most cinemas that the world is male dominated and learn to accept the man's world.