Tumhari Sulu-Feminism with a Smile
In the age of misdirected, compromised feminism, and the ever-present patriarchy, a film like Tumhari Sulu, is like the first spring blossom, the lyrical call of the cuckoo you hear in the middle of the February cold. Excuse the funny parallels I draw, but that's the best I could describe it.
This is not a movie review, but just an attempt to draw the Indian audience's attention to good cinema. This is for those who dismiss films starring a voluptuous, middle-aged housewife as the protagonist, with no gun-blasting men, or item songs that border on the brink of being classified as porn; as 'boring'.
When I was watching this movie with my friends, I reminisced about the good old 90's era TV shows, where humour didn't involve sexual innuendo or roasting someone without their permission. There was no 'bajana' type of jokes, and although the story revolved around a late-night talk show on radio, the dialogues were far from suggestive.
Yes this film had a woman protagonist & was feminist in nature. But I admire how Suresh Triveni stayed away from the temptation of turning his characters into a caricature of evil & good. Sulochana's family is as middle class as it can get, with their own set of annoying relatives & financial issues. But they share happy memories too, they have fun too. I'm no film critic, but I think that Tumhari sulu did a mighty good job at keeping things realistic & not caving to the need to over-do every nuance for the sake of the big screen.
Films like Pink, Lipstick Under my Burkha were good at what they attempted. But there was this need for a film like Tumhari Sulu, to depict that feminism is a part of everyday life. Feminism is, not blaming the victim of a sexual assault irrespective of their gender & feminism is supporting your wife when she wants to do something different , even when both of you are unsure.
Sulu's husband is not once portrayed as an antagonist, even at times he seems to lose his mind, you end up sympathising with him, the man's trying! Her family isn't the evil, conniving Indian family that they show on daily soaps either. They are like yours & mine, annoying as hell, yes, but family nevertheless. I loved the scene where she is threatened by her sisters not to come running back to them when she is in trouble again, & she replies-why not?! I'll come to you only, you're family!
Neither the climax nor the ending seemed over the top. And for once after watching a woman-centred movie I came out from the theatre with a smile. No adrenaline pumping, no anger, no scary after thoughts, just a content smile thinking "main bi kar sakti hai".
This is not a movie review, but just an attempt to draw the Indian audience's attention to good cinema. This is for those who dismiss films starring a voluptuous, middle-aged housewife as the protagonist, with no gun-blasting men, or item songs that border on the brink of being classified as porn; as 'boring'.
When I was watching this movie with my friends, I reminisced about the good old 90's era TV shows, where humour didn't involve sexual innuendo or roasting someone without their permission. There was no 'bajana' type of jokes, and although the story revolved around a late-night talk show on radio, the dialogues were far from suggestive.
Yes this film had a woman protagonist & was feminist in nature. But I admire how Suresh Triveni stayed away from the temptation of turning his characters into a caricature of evil & good. Sulochana's family is as middle class as it can get, with their own set of annoying relatives & financial issues. But they share happy memories too, they have fun too. I'm no film critic, but I think that Tumhari sulu did a mighty good job at keeping things realistic & not caving to the need to over-do every nuance for the sake of the big screen.
Films like Pink, Lipstick Under my Burkha were good at what they attempted. But there was this need for a film like Tumhari Sulu, to depict that feminism is a part of everyday life. Feminism is, not blaming the victim of a sexual assault irrespective of their gender & feminism is supporting your wife when she wants to do something different , even when both of you are unsure.
Sulu's husband is not once portrayed as an antagonist, even at times he seems to lose his mind, you end up sympathising with him, the man's trying! Her family isn't the evil, conniving Indian family that they show on daily soaps either. They are like yours & mine, annoying as hell, yes, but family nevertheless. I loved the scene where she is threatened by her sisters not to come running back to them when she is in trouble again, & she replies-why not?! I'll come to you only, you're family!
Neither the climax nor the ending seemed over the top. And for once after watching a woman-centred movie I came out from the theatre with a smile. No adrenaline pumping, no anger, no scary after thoughts, just a content smile thinking "main bi kar sakti hai".
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| image credit: youtube |
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