How Malik's Female Characters Overturn The Helpless Woman Trope
Steering away from the routine hypermasculine fare of gangster dramas, Malik has managed to establish strong arcs for its female characters. Fahadh Faasil stars as the protagonist Ahammedali Sulaiman Malik, lovingly referred to as ‘Ali ikka’ (big brother) who grows in stature as a local gangster boss before getting entangled in political chaos.
One would assume that a critically acclaimed Faasil onscreen would diminish Malik’s women but early on, we are introduced to Roselyn, who stands out as the Christian wife to a man who is the informal head of the local Muslim community.
Set in the Muslim-majority town of Ramadapally, the latest Malayalam release by Amazon Prime subverts how women characters in gangster films are usually deigned for three primary roles — be the eye candy for the male protagonist/ male audience, be sexually assaulted to provide a man with some purpose or to simply die to give the hero someone to avenge.
Roselyn beyond a rosy, feminine world
Malik underlines that Roselyn (Nimisha Sajayan) cannot be contained in the box of simply being the romantic interest. In the establishing shot, we see her striking her daughter for causing a ruckus while still holding on to a stranger’s hungry child for whom she is warming food. It becomes increasingly evident that she is very much the foundation stone in her husband’s benevolent, yet dubious empire.
[Alert: Spoilers ahead]
Subverting the trope of the coy Indian woman who must be approached first, it is Roselyn who makes the first move of physical contact between the two. We also come to learn that Roselyn is the sister of David, Ali’s former friend, and partner in crime.
Eventually, when Ali learns the news of her being approached with a proposal, he asks David for her hand in marriage. “But, will she be OK with it?” asks David, once again affirming that Roselyn is not a pawn for them to exchange. “Do you think I would ask you if she wasn’t?” Ali retorts. Consent matters, Malik tells us.
Where most Indian films portray daughters as the fragile carriers of family values, David proudly points out that Roselyn is also the first woman in the colony to go to college. From selling fish to teaching children, we see her occupy many facets that don’t reduce her to just being a pretty face.
The opinionated mother
“Mere paas maa hai” might be an iconic line in Indian cinema, but such proclamations have also polarized women as good and bad mothers. In a departure, Malik reiterates that a mother’s role has several other dimensions in real life. A far cry from the usual chest-beating or overly doting mother, Ali’s mother Jameela is given the screentime to establish that she is her own woman. Although she understands Ali’s intentions, she fearlessly stands up in court to give a statement against him as he stands trial for murder accusations.
Jameela’s character offers a stark contrast to the otherwise paavam or overtly earnest, self-sacrificing mothers who are a norm in Malayalam cinema. She stands out as the antithesis to every role of a weepy, reticent mother that Kaviyoor Ponnamma has played since the ’80s.
“Tell my mother the money I’m using for Hajj has been earned honestly,” says Ali, but his mother still refuses to see him before he embarks on his journey where he would be apprehended. But, when she is brought in to see Freddy, the boy who is being groomed to kill her son, she is not afraid to justify why her son should live despite her misgivings about Ali’s choices.
Read more: My Body, My Choice: Malayalam Movie 'Sara’s' Demystifies Motherhood
Then there’s Freddy’s mother Mary, who tells Roselyn in an earlier scene where death has been brought upon the family due to Ali, “I will raise him to get revenge”. Despite her husband having caused the death of Roselyn’s son, Mary bays for blood whereas most female characters would usually play the role of the peacemaker.
Contemporary Malayalam cinema has often been praised for its portrayal of nuanced women characters and Malik is another standout example. Although the industry has its own internal battles with sexism, there is hope that female characters are given the space to go beyond conventions and stereotypes.
(Edited by Sanhati Banerjee)
