by Rani Sun
This week, another one bit the dust. Here, 27-year Kavin from Tamil Nadu was butchered in broad daylight. The alleged murderer, 21-year-old Surjit, who brutally hacked Kavin to death, justifies it as honour killing. I don’t think so.
Honour killing can never be justified. Not legally, not even morally, and definitely not humanely.
It’s an oxymoron, another great evil that still invades some communities.
Over the years, the Tamil movie industry has slowly leaned towards violence, coined in Kollywood as “mass movies”. I won’t deny, I was a big fan of Thalapathi and Nayagan, the blockbuster hits of yesteryears.
I was blissfully entertained, not anticipating that this phenomenon, years later, would unfold into real life spectacles.
Today, the Tamil movie industry seems to embrace this violent manifestation of evil rather than the other heart-warming motivational movies, like Nanban, Ethir Neechal and Soorarai Pottru, just to name a few. Recent movies like Tourist Family (a humorous story about a Sri Lankan Tamil family fleeing economic hardship in Jaffna to start anew in Chennai) and Thiru. Manickam (which tells about a principled lottery shop owner who goes to great lengths to return a winning ticket to its rightful owner—even when his own family is in financial distress) were like a breath of fresh air, more of something I was gasping for. Alas, these gratifying movies are just a trickle in the sea of violent movies.
When art imitates life
Clearly, the lines between reel and real life are blurring, and not in a good way. As crime headlines become grimmer and more frequent, a provocative question emerges: Is the Tamil movie industry partly to blame? I would say yes.
With the fights and killings wrapped in heroism, Tamil movie may have long flirted with dangerous tropes. Now, these portrayals may be seeping into public consciousness, especially in shaping young, impressionable minds.
I can hear the outcry from afar, of frantic fans disputing, and possibly denouncing me an apostate of Kollywood. Truth be told, there is a pattern here.
India, alongside with Malaysia now, is witnessing a sharp uptick in gang violence and brutal crimes among youth. Just minutes away from where I reside, Maniisha Kaur’s life was recently taken away. This not only shook Cyberjaya residents, but almost the whole of Malaysia wept and grieved for Maniisha.
But what is shocking, is the eerie resemblance of the violent plotlines often glorified on the silver screen, followed by copious amounts of violent themed movies being churned out to feed the mass demand.
Have we sunk too deep?
Given the benefit of the doubt, perhaps Tamil movie makers grapple with the notion that these violent movies are actually aimed to fight evil. Some movie makers even push back, arguing that cinema only reflects society, it doesn’t create it.
They claim that they are not responsible for the crime and violence, but mean well in the hope of paving towards a just society. Truth or denial?
Well, these “just” movies often portray vigilante characters who take justice into their own hands, aiming to fight systemic oppression, police brutality, etc. These messages can be distorted, especially among youth who are hungrily seeking identity, status, and social recognition.
And then there is the temptation, money making mass movies versus non-profitable motivational movies, movie makers often succumbing to the former.
Decades later after the inception of graphic violence in Tamil cinema, this is now in an unavoidable and deeply damaging popularised trope. How long more before this violence is normalised? Will there be a turning point? Are we in too deep?
What Can Be Done?
A possible solution is perhaps, conscious filmmaking by stars like Rajni, Kamal, Vijay, Ajith and more. These stars have massive influence. They should start declining scripts where violence is applauded.
When they do accept scripts, they should understand that they are complicit to the murders and violence happening off-screen. If you choose violence, you have blood in your hands.
The fanatic fans may hold strong convictions that parents and teachers are actually the ones who need to educate the difference between narrative fiction and acceptable social behaviour. True, but a nuanced, socially responsible storytelling will also help mould the minds of millions.
If movies have the power to inspire, they also have the power to misguide.
(The views expressed here are entirely those of the writer)
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