Neeya Naana, one of the popular debate shows in Vijay television has served as a platform for several path-breaking discussions about sensitive and casual topics. Recently, a promo on the topic, ‘Who are more beautiful: Malayali or Tamil women?’ was aired and a poll was also put on the social media accounts of the TV channel. Little did the director and producers of the show think that this 30-second promo would cause havoc.
Several women journalists and activists took offence to the content and raised their voice saying that the topic is objectifying women. Considering that the country is seeing several cases of sexual harassment, rape, and other charges, this topic added fuel to the fire. Soon after the promo was aired, a police complaint was registered and the channel was forced to telecast another topic about real estate instead of this episode.
However, this decision was not welcomed by Neeya Naana’s show director Anthony, who took to Facebook to voice his opinion. His post read, “Women hailing from Kerala and Tamil Nadu spoke personally about their clothes, jewelry, and administrative prowess and several topics on the show. Their voices are now unheard because of the leftist feminists. They have gotten a stay through the police officials that we should refrain from talking about women’s beauty. Why are these people creating hassles without having the patience to listen to the college girls? Demanding a ban even before the show is aired speaks volumes about them. What is the difference between religious fundamentalists, casteist fundamentalists, and these leftist fundamentalists?”
Chennai actress and model Manju Shankar, who participated on the show, spoke on behalf of the Malayali women — and is visibly upset that the episode wasn’t telecast. “When I shared the promo on my social media accounts, I saw several people welcoming the topic as it had great views and shares. I don’t understand how people could see a small promo and decide that the content of the episode would be objectionable. I faced backlash for supporting Malayali women on the show and I asked those who confronted me on Facebook to watch the show and decide,” she says, unhappily.
Manju further added that it was a healthy discussion about women in both states. “It was not just about the beauty aspect, but also about other topics. There were heated arguments on the show, but it was a healthy discussion. People from all walks of life participated in the episode and we were supporting each other. When it came to administrative prowess, Kerala women supported Tamil women and we had mutual respect for each other,” she asserts.
The model-cum-actress insists that people are judging the content of the show based on a small promo. She also wishes that the episode gets aired sometime soon.
The Chennai Chapter of the Network of Women in Media in India (NWMI) is one among the many groups that had approached Vijay TV regarding the topic and also demanded that a disclaimer should be added clarifying that several people opposed the content of the show.
Induja Ragunathan, one of the members of NWMI says, “We believe in freedom of speech and expression and censorship alone cannot be a solution. In this particular case, its the way society looks at women. Also, women are always portrayed as objects in films, serials, ads and now, in reality, shows too. The whole issue is that Neeya Naana is a very popular show among the masses for its debate of many social issues — and when they deal with such topics which clearly objectify women in the title itself, it was not acceptable to us. I don’t personally feel the need for law in these things and self-censorship is important when we go to the public domain.”
Namithaa Jayasankar, an LGBT activist from the city reveals, “It is a false dichotomy and characteristic of a show that wants to grab people’s attention. Also, I see it as an act of getting more TRPs and to do so, talking about female body is the stepping stone. Misogyny has been prevalent in the society since olden days. Several poets describe the female body in their works! To begin with, women should be fighting this together. To see them seated on two different sides on the show is not how you fight the dichotomy. TV channels don’t care and they only want to appease the male gaze. This issue should be fought fiercely so that we can hold on to our identity.”
