Punch Patakas for Men Only
‘Vaasi Vaadi Tassaddiya!’ -- this dialogue by Akkineni Nagarjuna from his recent Sankranthi release Soggade Chinni Naayana (SCN) has become the latest sensation among movie lovers in the city. For decades, Tollywood has thrived on ‘commercial’ elements to churn out entertaining potboilers and reap rewards at the box-office. Apart from intense fight sequences and glamourous songs, one of the most important ingredients of a masala enetertainer in Tollywood – is its punch dialogues.
For instance, a Nandamuri Balakrishna film is incomplete without punch dialogues - those with attitude, catchy slogans, rhymes and alliterations. Though the trend of making films has changed in recent times, the punch dialogues remain an integral part of Telugu. However, if there’s one thing common to all these dialogues -- from Balayya’s monologue in Dictator to Nagarjuna’s popular phrase in SCN to Allu Arjun’s Oora mass dialogue in the teaser of his upcoming Sarrainodu – is that all these punches are delivered only by men.
Women, on the other hand, are predominantly used as glamourous statues, as the men take centrestage, deliver powerful dialogues and bash up goons. So why is it that only men get to deliver punch dialogues and not the women?
Filmmakers, while not outrightly dismissing the idea, have said that it’s about using the right platform and situation for it (women delivering punch dialogues) to happen.
“Well there’s no rule that only men should be the ones to deliver punch dialogues. Women can do it too. But the audience is used to seeing women in a certain way, so it will take time to break stereotypes,” said director Sriwass, who helmed the Balakrishna-starrer Dictator, a film plush with punch dialogues.
When asked if he would ask women to deliver similar powerful dialogues in his upcoming films, Sriwass said, “I’m not against the idea but at the same time, it will have to suit the script of the movie. If the script demands it, then why not?”
The actresses, on their part, have dismissed the comparison and claim that there are many things that they can do which the men cannot.
“I don’t think it’s fair to make such a comparison. Men can fight and deliver punch dialogues, but there are a lot of things we do than they don’t. For example, we dance wearing short skirts in freezing conditions. So I think that each person has their own qualities and one shouldn’t really draw such a comparison,” opines actress Rakul Preet Singh, who will feature opposite Allu Arjun in Sarrainodu.
Hopefully, the new age cinema with women as the centrepoint in recent times (Rudramadevi, Size Zero etc) may break the sterotypes and let the women deliver the punches.