Posted:
I know many people hate Avantika's character and consider her anti-feminist in comparison to Devasena, but I have another explanation.
Granted, Shivudu/Mahendra's wooing of her was creepy and their so-called love story was written all wrong, but I actually think Avantika's character itself was progressive. Tamannah simply did not portray it right. This is my analysis of Avantika.
When one thinks of a feminist woman, they usually think of loud, commanding bad ass types like Shivagami and Devasena, and while such women are amazing examples of strength and endurance, a woman need not be loud and independent to be a feminist. She need not attempt to take on 'masculine' qualities (though it's not wrong if she does). A woman can be feminine, embrace her girly qualities, and still be feminist. Avantika was meant to symbolize the women of today who work in a male-dominated environment and have to change their identity to achieve recognition.
I think I understand what Rajamouli was trying to convey through Avantika's character. If you see the group she was involved in, they are all almost men. There were barely any women there. Besides Avantika and Vaisali, there were no other ladies that we knew of. For a woman to be involved in a warrior-type group which is predominantly male, it is extremely difficult, especially in the type of olden-day society that this movie took place in. She has to prove her mettle, she had to be able to stand by herself, compete with all the men for recognition, and Avantika finally achieved recognition for her skills after a lot of hard work, but in the process she had to change herself. She had to hide all proof of her feminine qualities, qualities that made her who she was. We can see an example of this, in how she was scolded for her tattoo by the group leader, who deemed it too "feminine" to be allowed. Femininity was considered a sign of weakness, and to be accepted by such a narrow-minded group, is it any wonder what Avantika had to become as masculine as she possibly could to be recognized?
The whole concept of "finding herself" would have been beautiful, and would have shown the other side of feminism that is often ignored, had the storyline been written better.
Avantika's femininity was a part of herself, and it didn't make her any less of a warrior for wanting it, than was Devasena or Shivagami. Rajamouli should have shown the rebel group accepting her for who she was, letting her embrace her femininity and still respecting her abilities, which would have been a concept far more progressive than seen in Indian television/movie industry thus far.
Instead, they made Shivudu some obsessive stalker-type creep who stripped Avantika of her identity and basically stole her mission. Avantika was carelessly pushed aside and everything she worked hard for gone down the drain.
Avantika's character was not the problem. I thought she was pretty strong and badass just like Shivagami and Devasena, but her story was not written well, and of course, Tamannah was not the best choice for the role either.
CID
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