Shashank on Kousalya Supraja Rama: Male chauvinism is an ignored issue in India

Kannada filmmaker Shashank has been very measured in his words about his release this week, Kousalya Supraja Rama. “The overall graph of what the film is about will only be revealed in the film. What audiences have seen in the trailer is only a small glimpse,” says Shashank, speaking to OTTplay. “We want people to enjoy the film in theatres, so the idea is to ensure that the twists and turns in the narrative remain exciting for the audience on Day 1. If we are able to entertain them wholeheartedly, they will then carry word-of-mouth publicity forward. This is why we have not been saying much about the film in our promotional interviews or trailer,” he adds.

The film has had a few paid premieres prior to the official release. Isn’t he worried that plot points will be revealed on social media? “We trust that the audience will be sensible enough about what to put and what not to on social media. More importantly, this is not a suspense thriller, where, the moment that plot is revealed people may lose interest in watching the film,” he says.

In earlier conversations with us, Shashank had explained that the crux of Kousalya Supraja Rama is about what a man should be from the perspective of women. His film follows Rama, a chauvinist, whose views on women change over the course of time, because of the women in his life, including his mother, Kousalya. But considering that this is a film that Shashank has written, doesn’t it become a man’s perspective of what a woman’s perspective is – in short mansplaining?

Shashank laughs and says, “Kousalya Supraja Rama is a film that I have written based on a bunch of personal experiences and what I have seen in my friends and family circles. Truth be told, there are glimpses of Shashank from, say, 10 years ago during the early days of my marital life, in the character that Darling Krishna plays. This is a film that highlights male chauvinism; not gender equality. Chauvinism often rears its ugly head within the household, with your mother, sister, wife, or, perhaps, with a girlfriend. Back in the day, I thought that my perspective was right, but over the years, I began looking at other viewpoints and realised how suffocating chauvinistic attitudes can be to women.”

And while he has made changes to his behaviour, Shashank says that it was last year during Women’s Day celebrations that it occurred to him to put his thoughts on the matter in the form of a story. “I was reading some Women’s Day special articles and some of them highlighted the challenges they continue to face in day-to-day life. Women have issues in the household and outside too and I decided to explore the former and how they tackle it. Since I have been a perpetrator to some extent, as also some of my friends, family members, etc., I thought this is an apt issue to highlight on screen. I firmly believe that male chauvinism is an ignored issue in India, because it is a male-dominated society.”

As for why he thinks that presenting a woman’s perspective from the lens of a man is more effective, Shashank says, “Let’s say there is an acclaimed female personality. Now, instead of her talking about her achievements, if those around her do that it has more weightage. Similarly, instead of having a woman talk about other women, you need a man to do that. In my film, which is the ‘Tale of a Real Man’, it is a man who explains women’s viewpoint. This, I believe, will reach a larger section of the audience and may have a transformational effect on some men. For instance, when Amitabh Bachchan makes a statement about when a woman says no it means no in Pink, it is far more impactful than if, say, Taapsee had said it,” he reasons.