Malayalam film industry pushes back against holding films responsible for rise in violence

Amid a raging debate in Kerala over the role of films in fuelling shocking acts of violence by young people in recent times, the film industry has begun a pushback against casting it as the sole villain on the issue. A day after the State Assembly witnessed a discussion on the recent spate of crimes, including narcotic abuse cases involving minors, the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) Directors’ Union on Tuesday called such statements on cinema’s influence from political leaders, police officers, psychologists, the media and social commentators as “simplistic, absurd and unfounded”.

Recent Malayalam films like Marco, which had extremely violent scenes including brutal attacks on minors, have been at the receiving end of criticism. The police have also in some cases found similarity in the modus operandi of certain crimes with depictions in popular films. While a few filmmakers like Aashiq Abu have said that portrayal of violence in a medium such as cinema can influence society, the directors’ union has argued that cinema draws its ideas from the larger society and the contemporary social discourse.

‘Double standards’

“It was our fellow screenwriters and filmmakers who made one of the most popular actors in Malayalam utter the line “Narcotics is a Dirty Business” in two hugely successful films. It reeks of double standards to selectively attribute to other films the social impact that the scenes from these films lacked. Such arguments are a bailout of a system that has failed to control the deadly flow of drugs. Films that commodify violence, treating it as a means of pleasure, must be criticised. We are prepared to approach such representations of violence with caution and sensitivity. Such democratic discussions have already been initiated,” says the statement from the FEFKA Directors’ Union.

The union points at the popularity and reach of Korean and Japanese web series and films which feature extreme violence among the youth in Kerala. “But it is also noteworthy that Japan is the country with the lowest crime rate. Their legal system, social security standards and social auditing work so effectively. It has been analysed long ago that the social, cultural, and economic insecurities, alienation, othering, marginalisation faced by individuals can lead to violence,” says the statement.

It also warns against the possible push for stronger censorship that the current debates could lead to. “We should be aware of whom such arguments for stricter censorship would strengthen. Those who argue for works of art to be made in a particular mode are fascists. Have all those who watched the films of the greats Quentin Tarantino and Michael Haneke gone down the wrong path?” asks the union.