Women who are victims of sexual assault are almost always advised to forget about it as if it were a bad dream. The shame culture associated with such victims is still a subject of hot debate — to speak out or not to speak— is the biggest question. The unfortunate incident associated with actress Bhavana is one that shook the entire country. Countless debates ensued after the event came to light. As per the perception of some, the actress was not supposed to return to the big screen so soon.
But Bhavana braved the odds and not only did she return to acting with two movies but also began shooting for her next movie within weeks. The happy beginning coincided with her wedding engagement. The average Malayalee crowd was left gawking when she came out with yet another on-screen appearance. This time it was something different, a TV commercial for a tea brand launched two days ago. In the ad, the actress is seen speaking about ‘strength’ and ‘facing the odds’. The ad begins with a narration that roughly translates to this, ‘As the going gets tough, we begin to realise our inner strength.’
It did not take online warriors long to get into heated debate about the right and wrong of the commercial. While some applauded her brave stand, others asked if it was right on the part of the product to capitalise on the unfortunate event? Director Jaseer Mohammed, who directed the commercial, says, “The core idea and concept was provided by the advertising agency after discussion with the client. I just directed it for them. Ever since the release of the commercial, we have been receiving a lot of positive comments. Even Bhavana contacted me and told me that she was being showered with positive messages. Moreover, no one seemed to have raised any objection. Besides whatever we do, there will always be a negative and positive side to it. No one was forced to be a part of it. The actress is part of the industry, acting is her profession, she felt why should she stay away from it and became a part of it. And may be for her, it could be a relief to speak up and shed a positive light on things.”
A screen grab of the TV commercial
Advertising professional R. Venugopal opines, “There are two parts to this. One is whether Bhavana coming out and talking about her experience and relating it to something is a good thing? Yes, it’s a good gesture, definitely - because it reflects her boldness, that she is not afraid to talk about it. She was not afraid to talk about it before. My only problem is from an advertising point of view. I see it as a forced connect because a tea brand doing this is a little forced for me. If the commercial was done related to women empowerment or a CSR activity, it would have been more ideal.” Actor and activist Jolly Chirayath states, “The presence of a woman has always been capitalised, whether they have undergone any torture or not. The marketing strategy is to somehow encash a negativity a woman had to face. However, the positive angle I see here is her ‘celebrity privilege’ through which she could show us that we can face everything this way. It is our right to decide how we should address our body. How other people see it is according to their own limitations. When it comes to ‘market’, it always works on the system where they look at encashing anything.”
However, Shailesh Gupte, vice-president of Pinwheel, the agency that conceived the concept for the commercial, feels that any controversy over the issue is unwarranted. “It was the decision of both the brand team and the client. I think the brand stands for strong tea; their proposition is based on strong tea. There was no debate on how it should be represented. We all thought Bhavana was a wonderful example for toughness and strength. It is an ode and salute to strong women.”
