Author: Sharanya Sreeshan

Abstract: The journey position of women portrayed in Malayalam cinema varies from victims to survivors angels to monsters fidels to infidels and much more which made Malayali audiences frown as well as clap. Our audience appreciated women’s stereotypical roles more than women who are raising their voices against society. Cinema has always influenced people to commit heinous crimes because the impact of cinema on the mind of people Is so profound as said by Georgekutty in the movie Drishyam where he has created the image (drishyam) of A fake incident in the mind of people thereby befooling police. The discussion in the paper highlights the sexuality of women pictured in selected Malayalam films by closely examining the incidents of films. The paper enables the readers to recall some of the incidents in the movies from the past that women have encountered and understand how they overcome abuse and social disadvantages to become symbols of courage, strength and resistance. The role of female characters in Malayalam cinema has been a subject of discussion. In this context, a few issues need to be taken into account. In Malayalam cinema near the end of the 20th century, what kinds of roles were given to female artists? Can these characters be classified as gender stereotypes in general? Were the roles that were assigned expressly treated gender-biased? Are there any modifications to the positions given to women so far?

Keywords: Abuse, Male Gaze, Patriarchy, Stereotypes, Suffering, Violence

Article Info: Received: 15 Oct 2023; Received in revised form: 25 Nov 2023; Accepted: 06 Dec 2023; Available online: 12 Dec 2023

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.86.18