I finally managed to watch this movie. I find it very difficult to sit through these movies with unnecessary songs and new actors and actresses because I don’t like any of them! But someone had recommended me to watch it since it was on consent. As a movie I did not find it that great and was working while watching it. However, I definitely appreciate the thought behind it, and the message they wanted to convey. Acting wise I did not find anyone convincing. Supriya Pathak was the only relief.
Here is what worked for me:
- The mother of the hero was extremely supporting of the daughter in law. She understood thinks from a woman’s point of view and accordingly counselled her son to be sensitive towards her.
- There is a scene in which the hero tells his family to not disturb his wife who is in her room and leave her alone. The same scene would have been repeated in a lot of Indian families where the wife is in her room for whatever reason and the in-laws create a scene for her to get out and be with them. Usually the husband would be happy to yell at his wife and accuse her of disrespecting ‘his family’ because of course, the wife has no respect and she is not part of ‘his family’ anyway! An Indian man has been taught that supporting his wife means being a bad son and that his loyalty should always be with his mom, brother, father, chacha, bua, dog, neighbor, aira gaira nathu khaira all EXCEPT the wife. Actually insulting the wife = respecting his parents. So it was a breath of fresh air to see a Bollywood hero draw boundaries with his family and telling them to keep their *** out of his private matter with his wife.
- The decision to get the rapist punished was a good step. Shame does not belong to the victim. It belongs to the perpetrator. Husband and his family supporting the wife in this – again worth applauding.
- I am glad the movie ended when it did. I did not want to sit through mediocre courtroom cum family drama!
I know the theme of the movie was date rape. Consent during a date to decide how far a woman wants to go. Just because she showed up does not mean she wants to go all the way. However, I felt that they still wanted to portray the wife as a wannabe virgin and had she not been raped, the husband would have probably left if he knew her prior sexual experience was consensual. There were also talks about how nobody wanted to marry her because she had an affair as if we are living in the sixteenth century. And because of this ‘affair’ she ended up marrying a guy who had no aim or prospects in life. That too, a guy she did not even want to marry but gave in because of his persistence (stalking?) , refusal to understand a No, and the parents ka emotional blackmail. Even then, you need some husband and some marriage tag to get over an experience like that and move on with your life because otherwise the heroine had chosen suicide! Ultimately the woman had to be rescued by a man, she could only think of killing herself to get over the ‘shame’ that too for a rape. It is just sad to see that even in a movie meant to be empowering for women there is still so much that is not right!
And what if the guy had not even turned out to be supportive? Our hero had zero qualities so he was made to be a ‘nice’ guy who stands by his wife but in reality how many husbands are like that?
In reality, a Satyaprem gets a Katha because of some unfortunate taint in Katha’s life and then after marriage the Satyaprem makes Katha’s life miserable. Still a good deal for a Satyprem, he got a woman way out of his league. As for Katha, she just gets an unworthy , less than everything she deserved, brand new abuser who she did not even want in the first place.
For now, I want to appreciate the good message behind it and overlook everything else. But I can’t because movies like Pink have done a better job explaining consent.
Unlike our heroine explaining to the 30 year old dimwit what second base and third base is.