'Bollywood owes Malayali women an apology': Malayalam filmmaker calls out recycled stereotypes in 'Param Sundari' | Is Janhvi Kapoor's 'Thekkapetta Sundari' a half-Malayali?

Hindi-speaking audiences may not have a problem with Param Sundari or Janhvi Kapoor's representation of a Malayali woman in the upcoming Maddock production co-starring Sidharth Malhotra, but most Malayalis have taken offense with the representation, with Malayali-origin influencers, actors and filmmakers calling out Bollywood's unhealthy trend of reinforcing oft-repeated stereotypes.

Recently, a few actors and influencers such as Pavithra Menon and Divya Unny have questioned the writing and casting choices of Param Sundari makers, asking why they couldn't have cast a real Malayali actress for the role of Janhvi's character, Thekkapetta Sundari. The name, too, have been the subject of multiple trolls and meme pages. Some influencers even asked what the name meant.

'Bollywood owes Malayali women a big apology'

Meanwhile, Malayalam filmmaker Shruti Sharanyam, known for B32 Muthal 44 Vare, posted on her Instagram handle that Bollywood should be apologising to Malayali women and that she is "sick of watching 'Thekkappetta Sundaries' and 'Shalini Unnikrishnans'... My feed is unfortunately full of them." — a sentiment echoed by many other netizens from Kerala.

She further added in a note, "You take girls from Kerala — the most literate state in India topping the UN's Human Development Index and reduce them to coconut-carrying, jasmine-wearing props with no brain cells. Meanwhile, the Malayalam film industry is serving world-class cinema with serious content and depth, while Bollywood still thinks six item numbers and slow-mo fight scenes equal storytelling. Honestly, the only dumbass here is the stereotype you keep recycling." 

Is Janhvi Kapoor's 'Thekkapetta Sundari' a half-Malayali?

In a recent interaction with ET Digital, Janhvi said the film's story gave her a chance to go to her roots. "Of course, I'm not a Malayali, and neither was my mother, but my character is actually half-Tamilian and half-Malayali. I've always been very interested in that terrain and that culture, and I'm also a huge fan of Malayalam cinema. So yeah, I think it was just a very fun, interesting story, and I'm so happy and grateful that I could be a part of it," she said, while not addressing the online trolls.

 

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