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A low-key Malayalam drama from 2019, this one I am rather queasy about. The
plot centers on Sleeva (Asif Ali) a progressive farmer who has spent his youth attending to the farm and his responsibilities towards
mother and sisters. At 35 he suddenly decides to get married for the
sake of having someone to look after his aging mother. But Sleeva is an
archetype novice that knows nothing about romance and physical intimacy,
and the act of marriage generates a tremendous fear inside, to the
extent that he scuttles the arranged honeymoon and avoids any secluded
interaction with wife Rincy (Veena Nandakumar). The pressure rises, and
goaded on by stupid advice from chauvinist friends and large helpings of
alcohol, he decides to take the bull by the horns and ends up raping
his wife.
The film then follows the consequences his act has on everyone - himself, his wife, his own family - and his eventual attempt to repair the damage caused. This is where the queasiness quotient steps up for me. Sleeva's sexual naivete is held up as a badge of innocence, and people even in their criticism, treat the matter as the indiscretion of a naughty boy who broke a favorite vase or poured water over the TV. It would have been more acceptable within context if the wife herself had shown the same attitude. But she is obviously quite traumatized by the brutality of a man who didn't even string two words of romance with her before. And Sleeva's immediate behavior after the assault (and barely escaping being reported to the police by a furious doctor) is abominable. Instead of straight out apologizing to the woman and begging her forgiveness, as anyone who has committed a grave error should, he actually tells her not to make a big deal of it. The script again attributes it to his awkwardness before a woman not his mother or sisters, but we're talking basic human empathy here, and Sleeva, who is haloed as a helpful and active do-gooder comes across as a shockingly self-centered prick.
The rest of the film is about Sleeva becoming more martyr-like (think Mohan from Maniratnam's Mouna Ragam), and his wife realizing his "good qualities", especially after he helps out an eloping couple, and a hybrid crop variety he has cultivated garners accolades (What self-respecting woman would stand beside and say good words about a man who raped her and was too awkward to apologize, even if it meant being on TV?). So as we reach the finish line, Sleeva is once again hailed as an upstanding community member, the wife decides she wants to remain with him and we have a romantic all-ends-well.
While the film is performed well, it needed to be more critical of its man-child protagonist or at least adjust the chronology of his actions so that he is seen to be immediately penitent about his brutality, so that his subsequent actions are not seen as, "Alright, ab to sorry bhi bol diya, okay? Jeez!" petulance.
The film then follows the consequences his act has on everyone - himself, his wife, his own family - and his eventual attempt to repair the damage caused. This is where the queasiness quotient steps up for me. Sleeva's sexual naivete is held up as a badge of innocence, and people even in their criticism, treat the matter as the indiscretion of a naughty boy who broke a favorite vase or poured water over the TV. It would have been more acceptable within context if the wife herself had shown the same attitude. But she is obviously quite traumatized by the brutality of a man who didn't even string two words of romance with her before. And Sleeva's immediate behavior after the assault (and barely escaping being reported to the police by a furious doctor) is abominable. Instead of straight out apologizing to the woman and begging her forgiveness, as anyone who has committed a grave error should, he actually tells her not to make a big deal of it. The script again attributes it to his awkwardness before a woman not his mother or sisters, but we're talking basic human empathy here, and Sleeva, who is haloed as a helpful and active do-gooder comes across as a shockingly self-centered prick.
The rest of the film is about Sleeva becoming more martyr-like (think Mohan from Maniratnam's Mouna Ragam), and his wife realizing his "good qualities", especially after he helps out an eloping couple, and a hybrid crop variety he has cultivated garners accolades (What self-respecting woman would stand beside and say good words about a man who raped her and was too awkward to apologize, even if it meant being on TV?). So as we reach the finish line, Sleeva is once again hailed as an upstanding community member, the wife decides she wants to remain with him and we have a romantic all-ends-well.
While the film is performed well, it needed to be more critical of its man-child protagonist or at least adjust the chronology of his actions so that he is seen to be immediately penitent about his brutality, so that his subsequent actions are not seen as, "Alright, ab to sorry bhi bol diya, okay? Jeez!" petulance.
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