The daring murder of Infosys techie Ms Swathi by a
stalker has sent shock waves across the society. This murder has definitely sent
a sharp tremor in our body as every daughter from our homes is as vulnerable as
Swathi. Any girl going to school or college or work place faces the risk of an
attack from a stalker having a monster inside him.
This murder had also shaken our conscience as
everyone of us have to ask ourselves before criticising the onlookers at the
site of the incident, whether we would have acted any differently from those
present at that time. Is it apathy or fear and immunity to crime - which one is
keeping us at our back-foot when such a gory incident is happening in front of
our eyes?
The media as usual did its job of enough character assassination
of Swathi while giving space for callous commenters to spin their own versions
of Swathi’s past and their imagined lovers of poor Swathi. It was so sickening to read them all even
after appeals were coming from Swathi’s
relatives to
stop such speculations.
Media’s insensitivity is equally condemnable in their
coverage of the female folks of the killer’s family who are also distressed and
shocked at the behaviour of their kin. Photos showing his mother and sister
crying while hiding their face from the camera made a pathetic essay on the
mindless behaviour of the media.
On the other side of the coin, speculation about the
caste and religion of the murderer went to the extent that even a sensible and
non-controversial Y.G.Mahendra
craeted a flutter inadvertently. S.Ve. Shekar added pep to that.
Now that the killer has been identified and captured
we can expect support for him from psychological analysts, human rights
specialists and even some caste parties, while the real culprit behind the kind
of behaviour of the murderer will be having a gleeful day in having got a
wonderful plot. If you have guessed it
right, I am referring to the movie makers!
Someone from that fraternity may even be discussing
Swathi’s case right at the moment to make money and fame out of it. The ideas
on how to stalk a girl, tease her, please her and bring her around by some ways
are there for anyone’s take from the Tamil movies. A hero who looks completely
unsuitable for the heroine will be using all kinds of ways of clash and bash to
win the girl. If things don’t click, revenge is always there. If revenge is not
there, the hero would quit but not without making all nasty comments about the
girl.
There will be ‘situation songs’ for these moments
and they will be instant clicks with our youth. Take a look at a sample of
those songs I picked out from Chennai
Times of 29th June 2016.
The worst part of it is that those who inspired the
vulnerable youth with their roles in movies are preaching good behaviour to the
public. I am referring to actor Kushboo who was making expletives to stop such incidents and
accusing the bystanders at the scene of crime. Did she pause for a second to
think what impression her role in Chinna Thambi movie
would have created on vulnerable minds of both genders? In that movie she was the youngest sister of
a rich family who fell in love with an unlettered but a creative singer who
didn’t even know what marriage means. That movie was a hit but no one knows how
many impressionable minds were inspired / affected by that movie.
Her husband has an instant appeal with the young and
particularly the C class audience with his outwardly comical movies. But
thinking about them after seeing them, it is certainly disturbing to note that
the plots and scenes are in effect polishing the lower instincts of those
viewers.
For instance in his recent movie (Muthina Kathirikai)
which was produced by Kushbhoo herself and acted by her husband Sundar.C, the hero
(Sundar.C.) was aping to hook a girl who was 15 years younger than him. It
turns out that he has loved the mother of the girl in his younger days. Now
that he is in love with the heroine, her mother (his lover once) can be seen making
glances at him (jollu) which received loud applauses from the audience in the
theatre. While such scenes looked obscene, the instant reception for such
scenes from the audience was truly shocking. What right Kushbhoo has to speak
like an activist of women’s right and advice people while she continues to be
an inspiration for negative behaviour through the movies she makes and acts and
has her husband acting?
Kushbhoo is not alone in this mission-inspiration
for vulnerable minds. I brought in Kushbhoo’s name as I read reports
on her talks on Swathi murder. Almost every other Tamil movie that is being
released nowadays provide enough fodder to vulnerable minds to mistaken civil
talks as signs of love and get into love traps of unmatchable kind.
Movie makers may resist this accusation, and defend
their movies saying that they have only portrayed real life incidents. True,
such incidents may have happened in real life, but they are rare. By showcasing
them into movies, a justification for such behaviour is made in many minds.
Even one among them indulging in crime will snatch away life from another
Swathi.
It is time the movie makers also do their part of
introspection in the name of Swathi – a rare pearl who will be remembered every
time we see off our daughter to school or work place.
