‘Bad Girl’ teaser sparks debate about Brahmin bashing in cinema

Chennai, Jan 27
The teaser of director Varsha Bharath’s upcoming Tamil film ‘Bad Girl’, which was released recently, has stirred up a hornet’s nest with one section of the film fraternity calling the film “bold and refreshing” and another section taking offence to the manner in which a Brahmin girl has been portrayed in the film’s teaser.

Sharing the film’s teaser, director Pa Ranjith tweeted on his X timeline. He wrote, “Happened to watch #BadGirl, and it’s truly a bold and refreshing film! Director #VetriMaaran deserves immense credit for backing such a daring story. The film powerfully portrays women’s struggles and society’s expectations through a unique new wave cinema style. Congratulations #varsha.Anjali Sivaraman delivers an amazing performance—don’t miss this one!”

However, soon after Pa Ranjith put out this tweet, director Mohan G Kshatriyan responded to it. Quoting Pa Ranjith’s tweet, he wrote, “Portraying a Brahmin girl(‘s) personal life is always a bold and refreshing film for this clan. What more can be expected from Vetrimaran, Anurag Kasyap & Co.. Bashing Brahmin father and mother is old and not trendy. Try with your own caste girls and showcase it to your own family first.”

The film, which has been directed by Varsha Bharath, features Anjali Sivaraman, Shanthi Priya, Saranya Ravichandran, Hridhu Haroon, TeeJay Arunasalam and Sashank Bommireddipalli among others.

Cinematography for the film is by Preetha Jayaraman (ISC), Jagadeesh Ravi, Prince Anderson, music is by Amit Trivedi and editing for the film is by Radha Sridhar.

The film, which has been produced by ace director Vetrimaran, is presented by Vetrimaran in association with Anurag Kashyap.

Meanwhile, the director of the film, Varsha Bharath, during her speech at the teaser launch of the film, said, her movie was just “the start of a conversation” and that it was not a self-help book.

The director said, “I am not telling anybody how to lead their lives. This character is not a hero. She is just a really flawed person. She has mental health issues. She is just trying to survive. Generally itself, I don’t think filmmakers are people who can tell you how to live.”

Claiming that she had seen male characters that were a “thousand times more irredeemable and flawed” than the protagonist’s character in her film being hero worshipped, the director said, “This character need not be hero-worshipped but it can be accepted. I am not endorsing that women should drink in this film. I am just telling the story of a girl in this film. Women don’t have to be purists. They only need to be human.”