Actress Shraddha Srinath
has raised an interesting discussion about the representation of middle-class families in mainstream cinema. The
Jersey actress took to Instagram recently to talk about the need to stop showing grand and plush homes of middle-class families in cinemas rather than how they actually are in real-life- with dusty shelves, TV remotes wrapped in plastic covers, and cups of
chai on the table.
The actress wrote, “Why does cinema try to make middle-class homes look so tasteful? Why does every character in our films have enough money and great aesthetics to make their spaces look so frame-worthy? Why are we so afraid to show the middle class in its full authenticity? Why not display brightly coloured stuffed toys on the living room shelf? Some plastic trophies with decades of dust on it. Family photographs with a digitally printed background of Japanese furniture. Velvet cushion covers. warm and effortless and stuck in an era. Show me the real stuff authenticity. Hanging garden at the back? A wedding invitation that was too posh to throw away. Outdated cliched souvenirs. A steel glass with dried up dregs of
chai in it. Indian middle-class homes are warm and effortless. Show me the real stuff buddy. You can't engineer authenticity.”(Sic).
However,
Shraddha
has excluded
Malayalam cinema as she feels Mollywood filmmakers always get it right. She wrote, “OBVIOUSLY I'm not including
Malayalam
cinema in my previous monologue. Malayalam cinema gets everything right. Every single thing I can't even”(Sic).
You might agree or disagree, but Shraddha has given film buffs something to think about. The actress was last seen in the movie
Krishna and His Leela
which released digitally and was a super hit with the audience and critics raving about it.
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