Chithha, which has been met with critical acclaim since its release had its OTT debut on 28 November, deals with themes of sexual abuse and trauma but not in the sensational manner that most films do these days.
The recent shift towards the depiction of gore and violence in an almost voyeuristic manner on screen has been disconcerting. Chithha tackles a sensitive subject matter delicately while ensuring that it is hard-hitting. It refrains from showing us the gore but is successfully disturbing even without the visuals.
The scene where the paedophilic abuser is purchasing Vaseline at the store while he has the girl kidnapped, makes the audience shift uncomfortably in their seats plagued by the thoughts the scene evokes.
Chithha grapples with men’s masochistic response to the abuse rather than that of comfort, support, reassurance, and security that is expected of them. It shows a hero, Eesu, played by Siddharth who is never really a hero. He does not swoop in to save his niece’s day, and, interestingly, she was rescued by a random woman who chanced upon her instead. Eesu’s tendency to retaliate with violence against his niece’s abuser is more to satiate his ego, like most other men, and not in actuality in the interest of his niece.
Chithha does a great job of asking difficult questions and functions as a social commentary on our society’s response to sexual abuse. Sakthi, played by Nimisha, asks Eesu not to attack the perpetrator himself and make his niece’s identity all about the ordeal which he ultimately does do. When she reveals her own abuse at the hands of her uncle, Eesu responds with an expected urge to kill the man which Sakthi calls out by asking him why his first thought is of revenge and not of reassurance or even an inquiry into her wellbeing.
Chithha stands out for not sensationalizing violence against women
There is a lot that the film leaves to the imagination but that is the beauty of the film. The film does not sensationalize violence against women that lately, most films have been doing under the garb of dealing with women’s issues. Films like Ratchasan, or even Bigil, which dealt with sensitive topics like child sexual abuse and acid attacks used violence either as a sensational shock element or a crutch in the character development of the hero.
In such thrillers, the sole purpose of the female victim is to aid the progression of the story in the direction of the hero and his pathological need to resolve the issue even if that means committing violent vigilante acts to help the audience achieve a cathartic purge of anger, anger that they were originally made to feel with the earlier visuals of gore.
The rising concern that can be observed in cinema globally is the depiction of violence and sex in abundance even when it does not aid in the storytelling process. Such unnecessary visuals have a desensitizing effect on the viewers who are consuming this content. It affects the audience’s attitudes and perceptions of violence by normalizing it.
Check out this recent widely recirculated video of Aamir Khan talking about violence in films here.
Violence today is used as a plot device to add cheap shock value without any depth or nuance to the story. With Chithha, however, the narrative was especially strong even without the visuals. The success can be attributed to the deep empathy that was observable for the characters. The film had realism because it did not show, it was more real because it made the audience feel like bystanders to what was happening in the film. By opting for an alternate approach, the film focuses on consequences and serves as a commentary on the issue rather than glamorizing it.
Each character in Chithha had depth to them, and it was noticeable that they were written empathy and consideration which revealed more than any visual of gore could.
Chithha shows endearing moments between victims of such violence and has a victim speak for herself at the end of the film instead of the hero trying to serve justice which adds to the realistic aspects of the film and leaves us probing to reassess our approach in handling this sensitive issue.
