Extra-marital affairs are the hot topics of discussion in Mollywood industry right now, with a plethora of recently released movies like The Dolphins, Ennum Epozhum, Chandrettan Evideya and NeeNa dealing with the subject. Filmmakers opine that the increasing trend of using this theme in films is only a reflection of failing relationships in our society.
Siddharth Bharathan, director of Chandrettan Evideya, says, “The reason we took up this theme in our movie is because of how common extra-marital affairs have become in our society. Today, extra-marital affairs are definitely a rampant issue in our society, but it is also a subject nobody wants to discuss.” In Chandrettan Evideya, Dileep’s character is married to Anushree’s, and is later involved in an extra marital affair with the dancer played by Namitha.
Sathyan Anthikad, whose film Ennum Eppozhum, explored the same concept through Lena’s character, agrees and adds, “Contemporary issues and the environment in the society will always have an impact on films.For example, Ningal Ene Communistaki came at a time when farmers were going through a difficult face, Gandhi Nagar Second Street and Nadodikatu came at a time when youngsters were facing a major issue of unemployment. In the present scenario, the fragility of relationships is the issue we face. If you look at Ennum Epozhum, three of the women who acted in the film — Manju Warrier, Lena and Reenu Mathews — are divorced. So bringing these nuances and issues in relationships into the movie was a conscious choice because I believe all art must mirror society.”
However, in all these films, it is the man who strays from the marriage and the woman is still portrayed as the epitome of fidelity, except for the portrayal of Rachana Narayankutty’s character in Moonnamidam. “Our film can also be considered as questioning moral policing and the ideas of morality and immorality that our society maintains.
Rather than exploring it as an extra-marital affair, we wanted to look at it as a love relationship and the discretion of a woman to choose whether she wants to have sex with another.
It also portrays how women crave for a man’s companionship. It is always easier for men to go out to have drinks, for a late night movie, an outing with friends than it is for women to find an opporunity to create her own space in our society and obviously that reflects in these choices,” explains RJ Shaan, who wrote the script for Moonamidam.
“Films always portray the man as the culprit and the woman as the victim because we have a film industry that is male-dominated. We now have Anjali Menon and Sreebala Menon, whose films are narrated through the point of view of a man. This affects the way these things are portrayed. There is also the fact that men have more opportunities compared to women to get involved in extra-marital affairs. There are also women who get involved in such relationships in our society, but women are generally very close to their family and kids and rarely go seeking such opportunities. I personally know a woman who, despite knowing that her husband was having an affair, chose to ignore it and stays with him as long as he takes care of her. Women seek this security which means they are not the ones to usually get involved in an affair,” explains Sathyan Anthikad.
