Written by Ishita Sengupta |New Delhi |Updated: July 19, 2019 11:14:18 am
Kumbalangi Nights: Toxic masculinity decoded, destroyed
If a hero is what a hero does, he is also the way he is perceived: the gaze not only elevating him but also putting a shroud of impunity over his misconducts. In Kumbalangi Nights, this gaze — unquestionable in its devotion — is corrected.
In one of the most evocative scenes in Kumbalangi Nights, Saji (a brilliant Soubin Shahir) calls out to his younger brother Franky (Mathew Thomas) to ask if the latter could take him to a doctor. “I cannot seem to cry,” he says, as an odd grin hangs on the edge of his lips. It is a particularly moving scene not just because Saji, numbed by shock and grief, had moments before witnessed and unwittingly contributed to the sudden death of his closest friend. But it also stands out because in its arrangement — Saji sitting near the window, and his brother peering from outside — it resembles a confession. In Madhu C Narayanan’s film, this confession of needing supervision to emote, to cry becomes the confession of masculinity.
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