Director Bramma G says the condition of women in society will improve only after gender sensitivity is practised at home.
The filmmaker's upcoming film "Magalir Mattum" centres on the story of three female school friends, who reunite after a long time and resist the pressure exerted by the men in their lives.
In an interview with PTI, Bramma says the film celebrates women and he hopes men will start looking at the female gender through a different lens after watching the film.
"The respect towards women should start from the home and the school. When gender sensitivity starts from home, women's safety becomes a reality. I don't intend to give messages through my film but I've always wanted to provoke the thought of audiences. Equality is when a man lets his woman be herself. That's what I've tried to convey through my movie."
The filmmaker believes the education system plays a vital role in shaping the thought process of the children.
"Our text books still portray the picture of a family where the mother is doing household chores sitting on the ground while the father is reading the newspaper on the couch. It needs to be changed."
The director says films that subjugate female characters and objectify them are merely some instances that indirectly promote prejudice against women in younger minds.
"Abuse against women is not thin on the ground; women of all ages have been abused physically and mentally for eons throughout the world. With today's ubiquitous smartphones and media, the situation has come to the light. The statistics about women abuse are spine-chilling," says Bramma.
"Magalir Mattum" features Jyothika in the lead and calls her "a director's actor".
"Jo (Jyothika) is a complete director's actor. It doesn't mean she enacts what I ask her to. She would understand the context of a scene and play it in her way. She thoroughly understood the vision of my story and empathised with my characters.
"Her belief in the script is what made the film possible. She meticulously worked on minute details. There were a few occasions, where I went wrong. But, she would be conscious and correct me promptly."
Jyothika plays a documentary filmmaker in the movie and Bramma says she agreed to do the project only after he narrated the full script.
"When I told her the idea of 'Magalir Mattum,' Jo liked it and asked me to come up with the full screenplay. After I prepared the screenplay, she was the first one to listen to it. She literally reacted to every scene and played the role of an audience perfectly," he says.
Also featuring Urvashi, Bhanupriya, Saranya, Nassar, Livingston and Pavel Navageethan in important roles, "Magalir Mattum" opens September 15.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
