The body of the Malayalam film actors shows a staggering misogyny as it welcomes Dileep again

It was in 2002. Across Kerala, a film was running at full speed: Meesha Madhavan, or Mustache Madhavan, who glorified masculinity in the very title, and exulted in facial hair as a sign of machismo Malayali. The actor Dileep was playing Meesha Madhavan, the thief who was robbing your house when he was turning his back on you. One night, he removes a tile from the roof and slips into the heroine's room (played by Kavya Madhavan).

She sleeps. To make fun of the music, he looks at it and says, "Do you want me to prove my masculinity? I could just rape you here. And then for 10 months, you will walk with a big belly.

He said it as if it was a joke and imitated the ride of a heavily pregnant woman. Across Kerala we laughed.

***

It was in 2000. A Mohanlal movie was the blockbuster of the year: Narasimham. Towards the end of the film, he proposes to the heroine, played by Aishwarya, the auspicious sound of percussion: "When I arrive at home, lapping at midnight, I need to ask a kicking on a woman.Monoon nights, to snuggle under a blanket, I need a woman. "The girl squeals with pleasure.

In the cinemas, we must have smiled. The misogyny of the line, we must have thought, was only the rough words of a lovable thug.

***

That was in 1996. The big movie was Hitler – no, it's not about the Nazi leader but about a big, overprotective brother, to the point of being dictatorial, of her sisters. "Hitler" was played by the superstar Mammootty – Malayalis can be particularly thick on these problematic badociations.

A teacher rapes the older sister Seethalakshmi. He then goes to Mammootty, all contrite, and says, "I would have stopped her (the aggressor) if she had protested or even let out a scream." The enraged brother is perplexed. He affectionately tells Seetha to marry the old teacher, "whether she likes it or not" and "to protect her sisters from the stigma of her dishonor". The girl does not even have a line to articulate what she feels.

This rape has not even been recorded by most of us. We saw – and we were shown – only the torment of the brother.

***

This is the other side of Malayalam cinema, considered the bastion of progressive films and new narratives. Over the years, a cinematographic idiom has been built where rape is trivialized, marginalized and canceled. Harbadment is the essence of song and dance. Aggression and aggression are code words for male love. Free badism is a way in which aging superstars affirm their masculinity.

This misogyny became very real on the evening of February 17, 2017, when a prominent actress was reportedly abducted and badually badaulted while she was traveling in a car near Kochi. Dileep – all-powerful in the industry as superstar actor, theater owner and distributor – has been accused of paying a gang to commit the act and make a video of it. Dileep was arrested and, under immense pressure from the public and a handful of female actors, the Association of Artists of the Malayalam Cinema (AMMA) suspended him. After 85 days of detention, he was released on bail.

Eight months later, on June 24, at AMMA's first annual general meeting after Dileep's arrest, he revoked his suspension and welcomed him with open arms. This was done under the benign gaze of Mohanlal, who was newly elected as president.

The trial was open, Dileep was still charged, the survivor of the attack was also a member of this organization. Still, AMMA cheers Dileep back. Even when the PMO ministers spoke out in favor of the survivor, the AMMA cheerleaders had three elected representatives, including MP CP Mukesh and left-wing independent MP Innocent. Instead of saying #WithHer, AMMA backslapped and says #WithHim.

They brandished the misogyny of their films often out loud. The exclusively male executive committee of AMMA showed that the heinous patriarchy they represented on the screen was not incidental. It was essential for them, it was inseparable from them, it stung them like a second rotting skin.

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