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Films through the gender lens: Sensitivity in the Gunj

What does it mean to be a man in our society today?

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A Death in the Gunj
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A Death in the Gunj is a movie that pulls us into its world and leaves us with a crushing feeling of loss as we walk out of the theatre, which has started feeling like a cabin in the woods. You can almost detect a misty quality in the air, vapour clouds slipping inadvertently from between your lips as you leave the Gunj behind.

Konkona Sen and Vikrant Massey have given us the convoluted character of Shutu that we all can relate to. As he whimpers into the wall after a beating, or as he watches an ant burn under the glare of his magnifying glass, we have all seen this Shutu around us - in the faces of 'boys' who are asked to 'man up', 'grow up' and 'get laid', boys who are full-grown men according to age, but not according to the toxic masculine standards set by patriarchy. So they are bullied and nagged and are the subject of pranks and jokes, because the 'real men' cannot handle this aberration from the norm. How can a man be sensitive and emotional, and heaven forbid, delicate? 

The misplaced show of machismo in society is never-ending, cigarettes and bikes, pranks and physical assault, while qualities like sensitivity and shyness are ridiculed. Shutu labours under the burden of his family's expectations, cringing when he calls his widowed mother because the pressure of responsibilities seems too much, and spending all his time in an escapist bubble with an eight-year-old girl. He blends into the 'kids section' quite conveniently and when he is left behind, forgotten, in the forest, it comes as no surprise.

Shutu has an intense vulnerability which makes the audience want to pull him out of the screen and give him a hug. The girl he likes even tells him, "You're so pretty, you could have been a girl." It speaks a lot to our sensibilities of recognizing what it means to be a man in our society. Is it facial hair or physical strength, is it macho behaviour, or riding a cool bike? What makes a man masculine enough? As the movie progresses, we see Shutu struggle under the weight of these questions. We watch as his shoulders hunch further, his will to live gets weaker, and we wonder, how many times have we witnessed or perpetuated this mental abuse on men who show any sign of weakness, because weakness is 'girly'?

A Death in the Gunj is a pertinent film in today's times, not just because it brings to light the effects of toxic masculinity on men, but also because it reveals how mental illness is a real issue and yes, men can suffer from it too. The world needs kindness and empathy, and as we walk out of the movie wishing we could have done something for Shutu, we also walk out with a renewed consciousness of our responsibility to be sensitive, and therein lies true beauty. We find 'love' in the Gunj.

The author is Advocacy and Communications Manager at Population First

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