Daily VocabTitle Capsule th Title 16 January 2020

Looking Ugliness In The Eye

Meghna ’s just released transforms one of the most glamorous faces of Indian films into a horrifying mangled mass, which is then reconstructed, after seven surgeries, into some semblance of its previous form. plays Malti, based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, and the film marks a first of sorts in popular cinema’s female portrayals.

Perhaps for the first time in the history of mainstream cinema, the audience looks upon a female protagonist who is defined by her facial disfiguration and lack of physical attractiveness, and the ugliness that then confronts us is not Malti’s acid burnt face but the ugliness of an underbelly of our society that we have only very recently confronted in right earnest.

The film opens with the tumultuous protests that followed the horrific Nirbhaya rape case. And in truth, the horrific ugliness of that one episode had made such a great jolting impact on our collective psyche, that for the first time it forced us to look the unspeakable in the face.

A mainstream film with an A-lister that confronts us with facial disfigurement in place of beauty surely follows that very same trajectory. And whereby the inherent logic of the popular cinema, which calls for us to idealise the protagonist, is turned on its head. This overturning of established paradigms is surely a sign of underlying change, and a change that now makes us more unafraid to look ugliness in the eye.

If our films have been projections of contemporary societies, then let us think back to another film, ’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1976). This was perhaps the only other instance of a top star, here Zeenat Aman, portraying a character marked by her facial disfigurement and consequent rejection by society at large.

Yet there is that very significant difference and distance between Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Chhapaak. In the first, Raj Kapoor, as was his forte, depicted Aman in her fullest booty and bounty, making her character’s facial disfigurement (resulting from a childhood accident) almost incidental to this love story. In the way that the director sexualised her onscreen, we never once forget that we are watching here the glamorous and highly sought after contemporary sex goddess. Aman’s character (named Roopa, or ‘beauty’) appeared in the film in the skimpiest of outfits, gyrating and cavorting in her most overtly sexualised portrayal. At the end of the day, the film was about the beauty of it all, Satyam Shivam Sundaram!

By contrast, there is no beautification in Chhapaak. What makes the disfigurement even more heart rending is when we see the pretty young Malti (Padukone minus the prosthetics) in flashback that produces only dismay for the life that was almost destroyed. And for the many more that suffered similar fates.

There is a beauty nonetheless. A beauty that comes from the shedding of fear, the fear that in our minds accompanies sexual violence and physical impairment, the fear of ugliness and societal contempt. It is where we seem to have moved forward since Nirbhaya, whereby now, we are able to at least look our own ugliness in the face. Looking it in the face means facing up to it, and being able to speak about it.

If we are able to accept in our midst the impairment, injury and humiliation that accompanies sexual violence, it in itself becomes a form of protest. For then acid attack survivors or rape survivors become not ‘them’ but one of us. The lawyer fighting Malti’s case in Chhapaak makes a statement that acid attacks happened only to those girls who either wanted to study or just get forward in their lives. The acid was meant to remind them of their place in this world.

Sexual violence is often imagined to be a form of punishment or retribution by its perpetrators, punishment for those who do not acquiesce or give in, and their families. A punishment more punishing because society at large remains unaccepting and unforgiving of the survivors.

With a spate of sexual violence making headlines in recent times, it becomes all the more necessary that we, through more popular media, film, television, and others, find a greater acceptance of those that have battled sexual violence, harassment and abuse. The legal machinery has been churning in more recent years, but society itself seems to be in more of a limbo. The popular media has the power to affect sentiments and perceptions, to produce a sense of identification and empathy, like with Malti of Chhapaak. And when that happens sans beautification or any kind of compensatory sugar coating it serves its purpose.

Films have made some of their most powerful political statements when they have shed beauty and embraced ugliness. That same embracing of the impaired or the hurt and bruised where both women and men are concerned,

not only in one film, but in a much larger way, could make the real difference. And a star like Deepika Padukone has the power to bring a more political edge to popular cinema, not only through her Malti, but also when taking a political stand such as with her solidarity with the JNU students. Whether one agrees with her on this or not, a political stand taken by a star does draw films closer to their audiences.

Courtesy: (National)

1. Mangled (adjective): Meaning: Destroyed or severely damaged by tearing or crushing. (क्षत विक्षत) Synonyms: Mutilated, Lacerated, Maimed, Torn, Marred Antonyms: Beautified, Preserved, Mended, Cured, Healed Example: His body was crushed and mangled beyond recognition.

2. Underbelly (noun): Meaning: The weakest part of something that is most easily attacked. (कमज़ोर विꅍदु) Synonyms: Weakness, Fatal Flaw, Achilles Heel Antonyms: Strength, Potency, Power Example: The trade deficit remains the soft underbelly of the US economy.

3. Tumultuous (adjective): Meaning: Involving a lot of change and confusion and/or violence. (उपद्रिी) Synonyms: Stormy, Tempestuous, Turbulent, Riotous Antonyms: Peaceful, Calm, Orderly, Quiet Example: All of those things, one after the other, these just tumultuous events.

4. Underlying (adjective): Meaning: Important in a situation but not always easily noticed or stated clearly. (मौविक) Synonyms: Basic, Fundamental, Elemental, Rudimentary, Pivotal, Key Antonyms: Secondary, Advanced, Minor, Peripheral Example: Unemployment may be an underlying cause of the rising crime rate.

5. Forte (noun): Meaning: A thing that somebody does particularly well. (प्रधान गुण) Synonyms: Speciality, Strength, Strong Point, Strong Suit Antonyms: Weakness, Failing, Ineptness Example: Languages were never my forte.

6. Dismay (Noun): Meaning: Concern and distress caused by something unexpected; The feeling of despair in the face of obstacles (िेचैनी, भय) Synonyms: Consternation, Perturbation, Trepidation, Apprehension, Panic Antonyms: Solace, Gratification, Repose Example: She could not hide her dismay at the result.

7. Acquiesce (verb): Meaning: To accept something without arguing, even if you do not really agree with it. (विना विरोध के स्वीकार करना) Synonyms: Agree, Accede, Assent, Yield, Concede Antonyms: Oppose, Resist, Object, Protest Example: She explained her plan and reluctantly he acquiesced.

8. Retribution (noun): Meaning: Severe punishment for something seriously wrong that somebody has done. (दण्ड) Synonyms: Punishment, Penalty, Nemesis, Comeuppance Antonyms: Forgiveness, Pardon, Mercy, Acquittal Example: Victims are demanding retribution for the terrorist attacks.

9. Heart-Rending (adjective): Meaning: Causing feelings of great sadness. (दयविदारक) Synonyms: Heart-Breaking, Distressing, Agonizing, Harrowing, Tragic Antonyms: Uplifting, Comforting, Heartening, Cheering Example: His final years in hospital were tragicomic and heart-rending.

10. Jolt (verb): Meaning: To shock someone in order to change their behaviour or way of thinking. (झटका देना) Synonyms: Shock, Startle, Stun, Stagger Antonyms: Soothe, Comfort, Placate, Solace Example: The news about Sam's illness jolted her into action.