Sharmila opens 'Women in Malayalam Cinema' exhibition

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 12 (IANS) Censor board chief Sharmila Tagore Saturday inaugurated an exhibition titled 'Women in Malayalam Cinema' as part of the ongoing 14th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).

The exhibition is being held as part of an exercise to document the history of women in Malayalam cinema - in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes.

Inaugurating the exhibition, Sharmila said that the Malayalam cinema industry has a great range of women characters starting from Rosy in 1928.

'What we see upfront doesn't constitute the stark reality that goes behind the lives of the women actors,' she said while recalling her experiences as an actor.

'The situation is still not favourable to women to be successful without a male patron. Women shouldn't be viewed upon as liability by the society,' she said.

Veteran Malayalam actor K.P.A.C Lalitha said women are being reduced to decorative roles nowadays unlike in the past when they essayed strong roles. She called upon film makers to make women characters with substance.

Reigning heroine Navya Nair also expressed anguish over the speechlessness experienced by women in cinema.

'The media too plays a role in reducing women to shadows and that leads to a certain fear to come out in the public. Accessibility to the lives of actors have made them more pretentious,' Navya said.

Didi Damodaran, who recently made her debut as a scriptwriter, said there had been very few women behind the camera as compared to the number of women in other careers. This situation has to change, she added.

Beena Paul, director of the 14th edition of the IFFK which began here Friday, said that the exhibition would go around the country and the state, expanding with fresh elements in course of time.