Cinema continues to be a gendered space, with phrases like ‘female-centric movie’ or ‘male-led film’ used as descriptors. Given the erratic nature of the box office, many have exploited these terms to back up their arguments about why a movie did or did not do well. To nobody’s surprise, cinema centred around female characters usually gets the short end of the stick here.
The latest example of this was seen during the recent ‘Film Companion Actor’s Adda 2022’ hosted by film critic Anupama Chopra. During this interview featuring some of India’s top stars, a conversation about whether only ‘macho man’ movies can save the ailing box office took centrestage. Here’s what actors like Janhvi Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Ayushmann Khurrana and more had to say to that.
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Tradesmen still believe male superstars get numbers
Credit: Bhansali Productions, Pen India Limited
Anupama Chopra stated, “This trade guy said to me, ‘We need to cater to core India. Our heroes need to have more testosterone.’ He’s generalising here but he’s saying films like Neerja or Queen will not be the great hits that they were anymore. We need these kind of very, very larger-than-life men on screen.”
Naturally, a stunned Sheeba Chaddha reacted to this with a “What?” and Rajkummar Rao said, “But Drishyam, I don’t think Ajay sir is playing a guy who is high testosterone?” The other actors at this interview also had strong views about this.
Janhvi Kapoor on “testosterone-heavy movies”
Credit: Instagram.com/janhvikapoor
Mili and Good Luck Jerry actress Janhvi Kapoor called out such speculative theories: “I don’t know why this tradesman’s statement has agitated me… Can I tell you, I really think, in my limited experience and from my novice point of view, I don’t think when anyone is giving out these theories, I don’t think anyone knows what they’re talking about, especially in this environment.”
Slamming this nostalgia for formulaic macho, hero-led films, Janhvi reiterated the need for original and unique stories: “The one thing that these films that have worked and resonated with people have in common is that they are telling someone’s truth. If the maker has conviction and an original perspective, then it’s working.”
Vidya Balan got real about the success of female-led films
Credit: T-Series, Abundantia Entertainment
Jalsa star Vidya Balan did not take the assault on female-led cinema quietly: “I was just going to say, how come Gangubai did well? If a woman-centric film does well, then it’s a director’s credit.” To this Sheeba Chaddha added, “Or maybe she’s exhibiting testosterone-ish qualities” and Ayushmann quipped, “Masculine energy,” describing the excuses people use to take away from the success of female-led films.
Getting brutally honest, Vidya talked about how the failure of male superstars’ masala movies does not mean female-centric films won’t do well: “The tradesperson is a misogynist. We’ve worked so hard as women to have a certain standing today where we’re headlining films more and more. I love how post-pandemic, because the men’s films aren’t working, they suddenly turn around and say that they women’s films are therefore not going to work all the more. How ridiculous? What about Gangubai? It did more than most male-driven films!” During this, Varun Dhawan also chimed in and correctly added, “What about Tabu this year? She’s part of the two biggest blockbusters!”
Ayushmann called this bias for what it is
Credit: Instagram.com/ayushmannk
Nearly every actor at that interview expressed outrage at the viewpoint that the industry needs ‘macho man’ films to get back on its feet. Ayushmann was no different.
He got real about the fact that a bad movie will not do well because it has a superstar: “I think it’s a very patriarchal way of thinking. Every month, two months, three months, the conspiracy theories are changing. It’s about how engaging the content is. Good is not good enough, it has to be great.”
Why we celebrate the end of macho, hero-led films
Credit: Instagram.com/janhvikapoor
The angry young man cinema of the 1980s has no place in today’s societyghisa-pita ‘hero does action sequence and saves the day’ plot cringeworthy, the archaic tropes and formulaic plot get tiring to watch after a point. That movie has been made in a thousand ways by now, and we as audiences don’t want to spend our money to watch an iteration of it again.
Sheeba Chaddha expresses it from the audience’s perspective best in this interview: “This state of flux is so wonderful. We grew up on such formulaic films. Now nothing sticks and that’s probably bad for commerce, but it’s just great as actors and it’s great as content-watchers.”
So, maybe it’s a good thing these stereotypical movies are not getting the numbers. Audiences are not watching simply anything that is thrown at them. Hopefully, this will encourage better writing and better movies, and not result in makers falling back to their old, tried-and-tested formulas that no longer apply!
Lead image credit: T-Series, Abundantia Entertainment, Instagram.com/janhvikapoor
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