Naanu avanalla...avalu is a film about struggles of a transgender based on the life of Living smile Vidya. The film is made really well and raises many important questions. It is a cry to not discriminate those who are different from us - at the very least treat them more kindly.
Madesha (the protagonist) exhibits girly behaviour from childhood and is attracted by clothes "meant for" girls. He believes he is a female trapped in a male's body. When I saw this I was haunted by many questions - especially because this is based on real experience. Is there really something called feminine dressing? Is there something really called feminine? What about all the people who attribute gender differences to social conditioning? As asked by a person in the film - what does it mean to be female(trapped in a male's body)? Note that, this is different from being a homosexual, which is much easier to understand.
What I liked the most in the movie is the relation between Madesha and Govindu - his closest friend. He is one person who is able to accept Madesha knowing he is different. Madesha is romantically attracted to Govindu. There is one scene in which Madesha is having an emotional outburst. He suddenly hugs Govindu and says he wants Govindu for himself. The way Govindu goes away without hurting Madesha or spoiling their relationship was amazing.
Fed up with life as a male, Madesha undergoes a sex change operation and becomes Vidya. The family, shown as really good people, find it hard to accept her. This shows how deep rooted our prejudices are. This reminded me an incident cited by Sunitha Krishnan. Once a lady who regularly donates to Prajwala (an NGO co-founded by Sunitha Krishnan that rescues, rehabilitates and reintegrates sex-trafficked victims into society) asked Sunitha Krishnan if she knows someone who can work as a maid in her house. She quickly added that, please don’t suggest anyone from our organisation, people will misunderstand.
Madesha (the protagonist) exhibits girly behaviour from childhood and is attracted by clothes "meant for" girls. He believes he is a female trapped in a male's body. When I saw this I was haunted by many questions - especially because this is based on real experience. Is there really something called feminine dressing? Is there something really called feminine? What about all the people who attribute gender differences to social conditioning? As asked by a person in the film - what does it mean to be female(trapped in a male's body)? Note that, this is different from being a homosexual, which is much easier to understand.
What I liked the most in the movie is the relation between Madesha and Govindu - his closest friend. He is one person who is able to accept Madesha knowing he is different. Madesha is romantically attracted to Govindu. There is one scene in which Madesha is having an emotional outburst. He suddenly hugs Govindu and says he wants Govindu for himself. The way Govindu goes away without hurting Madesha or spoiling their relationship was amazing.
Fed up with life as a male, Madesha undergoes a sex change operation and becomes Vidya. The family, shown as really good people, find it hard to accept her. This shows how deep rooted our prejudices are. This reminded me an incident cited by Sunitha Krishnan. Once a lady who regularly donates to Prajwala (an NGO co-founded by Sunitha Krishnan that rescues, rehabilitates and reintegrates sex-trafficked victims into society) asked Sunitha Krishnan if she knows someone who can work as a maid in her house. She quickly added that, please don’t suggest anyone from our organisation, people will misunderstand.
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| Image from Wikipedia |
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