Meri Beti Sunny Leone Banna Chaahti Hai is RGV being shockingly blah
In 2017, sex still sells. But what sells a little more is social justice and activism. And filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has found the perfect combination; in his own weird universe, that is. The producer of Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon (incidentally written by Makarand Deshpande, who is an actor in this short film), comes an unlikely spiritual sequel called Meri Beti Sunny Leone Banna Chaahti Hai.
This hyper-realistic film begins with the titular remark from Makarand Deshpande, a great actor who seems to have played this role out of a lack of choice, because he clearly does not at all emulate the kind of reactions a middle-class orthodox father would have when his daughter announces her aspirations to become a porn star like Sunny Leone (perhaps the most famous adult cinema actor we know in India).
The daughter (played by Naina Ganguly) aggressively tries to make her parents understand the concept of sexuality and sexual freedom and how being a porn star is just another profession. Her arguments are rational and even admirable, but where they fail to make a mark lies in her almost high-school-debate-club delivery of them. She isn’t struggling to convince her parents of the choice she is making, a choice to, both, rebel from social norms, and to reclaim her own agency. She is just making a faux-passionate declaration that is both awkwardly aggressive and deadpan at the same time.
Her tirade on Indian conservatism and patriarchal values is full of holes, however. While explaining ingrained patriarchy to her mother (played by Divya Jagdale, who does little more in the movie than play a Nirupa Roy-like overreacting mother) she questions her father’s lack of success in his career. Her question, when directed to her mother, fails to question why she does not have a career at all; rather asks her why she isn’t a maharani or queen, implying that her social status is completely dependent on her father’s success.
Additionally, she makes the most absurd statement of all time: a woman’s beauty is her most valuable feature and strongest weapon. It is clear, from all the inconsistencies in the character’s belief system and the complete lack of a convincing performance on anyone’s part (two of whom are thespians), that this movie serves no purpose other than to jump on a feminist bandwagon.
But while the purpose is apparent (thanks to the filmmaker’s shallow understanding of the concept of equality), the motive is not. Ram Gopal Varma is not a man who believes in appeasement; and however shoddily it has been executed, it nonetheless appears to be a rather pathetic attempt at winning over a crowd that is, at the very least, lukewarm about the idea of feminism and a woman being free and unabashed about her sexuality. So, why is RGV indulging in something like this?
Some time ago, the man had earned the wrath of thousands on the internet with a Tweet: "I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives." He was called everything that ranged between misogynistic and vile. Not that he cares. To quote an old DailyO op-ed, “You cannot shame him. You cannot censure him. You cannot censor him, of course. There is nothing you can do except for standing a corner and shaking your fist because he has offended you.”
And maybe that’s where the key lies. Perhaps RGV is doing this, not out of any misinformed notion of what feminism is, or to appease a certain section of his demographic, but to offend the rest of the people. He is blasé about what people think of him or what they might say. He, however, definitely enjoys the outrage he manages to create, almost as if he derives his life-energy out of it. RGV fears no one, not politicians, not industry veterans, not critics, and perhaps not even his own filmmaking (that has fallen into a downward spiral as if it were a character in a Darren Aronofsky film). He only likes to shock.
For some people, this short film is shocking because of its conspicuous lack of depth (despite what all could have been achieved with a topic like that). Others find this film shocking because he makes references to the Upanishads and Hindu mythology to explain sexual expression and independence.
Some may also find the use of the word “randi” (a derogatory Hindi word for prostitute) shocking. There is literally no reason to find that word shocking, but since we are in India, we have to understand that Indian men - who ritualistically use this word to describe any woman who looks or feels threatening or any woman, who spurns their advances - go all “haaaaawwww” when they hear it in movies.
And at the end of the day, if you reacted to this film, Ram Gopal Varma is successful in his mission. One wonders how Sunny Leone would react to this. After all, while she does not make any effort to apologise for her past in a country that still believes short clothes cause rapes, she also does not like talking about it, which makes sense, because she no longer belongs to that industry.
Apparently, she has chosen to ignore it, which is what any sensible person should have done and continue to do.