Ranjani Murali

Warning: This review has spoilers. If you want to see an image of the film or a trailer, please look here or here. I do not want to add images after critiquing their hold over us!

The term gaze or male gaze is often used in the context of feminist discourse. In fact, it is sort of the a-b-c of feminism. A cursory look at Wikipedia will tell you that the male gaze is stronger in the context of cinema since the female is often constructed to be the object of pleasure. Think of all the countless times you have heard that women are “objectified” and “victimized” through cinema and in the Indian film industry.

The Dirty Picture released to what I can only describe as mixed views, including some who reveled with mixed feelings and others who called it “eminently watchable.” What I am about to describe here is my response as a movie-goer, and it is essential to remember that I still recommend watching this movie. First, my impression of the original “Silk” (too anglicized an epithet for my taste) or “Siluku” was that she symbolized all that was subaltern. No, I am not saying that just because she wasn’t as “fair” as the other heroines and she was always the vamp oppressed by the men who oppressed their heroines/ wives/ mothers, etc. I say that based on Meena Kandaswamy’s post on Facebook about a Rediff article classifying ...