Before becoming CM, Vijay was poster boy for films normalising harassment, objectification

Welcome back, my peeps! Have you all recovered from Vishal Scorsese’s Magudam? Or have you been startling yourself awake, dreaming of driving a car (blessed are those who don’t get this reference)? Anyway, enough with Puratchi Thalapathy; let’s move on to the proper Thalapathy now and turn the clock to an era when Vijay dropped stinker after stinker, leaving even his die-hard fans confused about which movie to justify the most.

Long before Vijay became a so-called proponent of women’s rights as a politician and much before he advocated for [patriarchy-approved] women’s empowerment and gender equality through Bigil (2019), his movies — and in/directly, the star himself — served as fodder for our society’s blatant misogyny, sexualisation of women, and commodification of their bodies.

The era of blatant objectification of women

Remember that disgusting scene from director Perarasu’s Sivakasi (2005), where Vijay’s character publicly shames Asin for wearing a sleeveless top and shorts, claiming that men grope women because they wear such outfits in public? He also lectures her on how to dress “appropriately,” suggesting that such attire would apparently elicit nothing but worship from men. Super logic, right?

Must Read | Vishal’s Magudam is ‘therapeutic,’ ‘kidney-touching’ and makes many bad movies look good

Let’s not pretend that scenes like this, which bluntly blame women’s clothing for crime, haven’t played a role in creating a criminal mindset among men who feel entitled to harass women based on their so-called “objectionable” attire.

However, alongside “lecturing” them on how to dress “modestly,” stars like Vijay have also headlined movies that sexualise and commodify women in tandem. Hypocrisy much?

One of his films that reeks of such portrayals is Villu (2009), a remake of Abbas-Mustan’s Soldier (1998). Helmed by renowned choreographer Prabhu Deva, who previously directed Vijay in the massive blockbuster Pokkiri (2007), Villu is one of those ripe-for-parody movies with enough material to feed an entire Tamizh Padam.

Story continues below this ad

Also Read | Wile E Coyote meets Rajinikanth: How KS Ravikumar’s Lingaa became an unintentional comedy

Is it Pokkiri 2?

Firstly, the action comedy is marred by low-effort dialogues whose only purpose is to hype up Vijay at the expense of his past films. Prabhu might have thought he was cooking up an awesome line like “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman” when he introduced Vijay in Villu with “Is he Superman or Spider-Man? He is Pokkiri Man.” Couldn’t even weave in one reference to their previous work properly, and the screenwriter-director still thought he could rip off the whole Pokkiri (which itself was a remake of Puri Jagannadh’s Mahesh Babu-starrer of the same title).

In the very next moment, a rival asks him, “Are you Bruce Lee or Jet Li?” to which Vijay-na replies, “Ghilli,” yet another reference to one of his past blockbusters. It seems that if he could, Prabhu would have forced dialogue writers AC Mugil and Rebel Ravi to fill the entire movie with lines referencing old Vijay films, since that would let him avoid putting in any real effort. But I guess someone told him that wasn’t an option.

Vijay and Nayanthara in Villu. (Credit: IMDb)

And yes, Villu is basically a shoddy rip-off of Pokkiri. A fearless youngster who works for the cops in secret? Check. Prakash Raj as the rich, ruthless villain with zero redeeming qualities? Check. The hero single-handedly wiping out the villain’s associates? Check. A heroine who is obsessed with the hero for silly reasons? Check. Vadivelu being tortured with tasteless body-shaming jokes? Check.

Story continues below this ad

To be honest, if we keep doing this, the entire write-up would contain only mentions of the similarities between the two movies. So, moving on.

By the way, in his intro fight scene, after most action moves, Vijay remains in the air for an extra second or two, as if that’s his superpower. But in retrospect, it can be seen as foreshadowing, with Prabhu hinting that Vijay will be in the air, facing trolling for his poor acting and the movie as a whole. This fight scene is so bizarre and funny that it features dishoom-dishoom sounds even when no one is throwing punches.

Stalking and harassment masked as romance

Movies like Villu are undoubtedly one of the main reasons why many Indian men still don’t understand the meaning of consent and that any intentional unsolicited, unwelcome touches constitute sexual harassment, even if the perpetrators try to whitewash their predatory behaviour as signs of “true love.”

Just look at the loathsome “romantic scenes” featuring Pugazh (Vijay) and Janavi (Nayanthara). In their first scene together, Pugazh pretends to be unconscious after falling into a river, necessitating Janavi to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When she realises that he was acting and lashes out at him, he smiles on and acts cute, as if he did something commendable.

Story continues below this ad

In another scene, we see Pugazh pretending to be unwell after being “assaulted by thugs,” only to grope Janavi under the guise of not being able to see things properly. According to Villu, the best way to charm one’s way into a woman’s heart is to “harass her multiple times, find ways to touch her body without permission, and then demonstrate your fighting skills.” If those aren’t enough, “You can also lie to her and manipulate her into believing that she has feelings for you,” because everything is fair in love and war, right?

Don’t Miss | Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai review: Nivin Pauly, Soori’s film is a messy, AI-overloaded affair

The objectification of Nayanthara is on another level in this movie, with most shots choreographed in such a creepy manner that the camera seems fixated on her breasts.

Let’s not forget that this was also the era when Prabhu Deva and Nayanthara were in a highly publicised relationship, and she even got his name tattooed on her hand. This begs the question: if one can portray even their girlfriend so distastefully, how obnoxious would they be in the depictions of other female actors?

Story continues below this ad

I hope no one comes with the “they are both professionals and can separate their personal life from their professional life” argument here, as we are talking about the shameless sexualisation and commodification of women, and not some random artistic choices.

The objectification of Nayanthara is on another level in Villu. (Credit: IMDb; enhanced using AI)

Not just the men; even the women in Villu objectify and sexualise each other for no reason.

How Vadivelu and Aarthi were targeted

Much like many Vijay movies of the decade, Vadivelu’s comedy steals the show in Villu too. But that’s only because Vadivelu is awesome and a master of physical comedy. The movie is packed with utterly tasteless jokes that make fun of his appearance, even comparing him to a buffalo and an African chimpanzee. Not just Vadivelu, actor Aarthi is also made the butt of body-shaming jokes.

Sure, Vijay and his fans can pretend as if movies like Villu were products of their time. But the damage they did to the Indian psyche cannot be overlooked, especially since films like this helped Vijay establish himself in the hearts of the masses, eventually making him the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Story continues below this ad

Next week, let’s see how a bunch of useless youngsters made an elderly man travel thousands of kilometres at their request, only to ask him to go back soon after he arrived.

Memories of Blunder is a column in which we dissect some of the worst South Indian movies and performances of all time. No offence to anyone whose name surfaces here. They may all have potential, but they blew it that one time. However, don’t play the song if you can’t face the music, right?