Women don’t need to be purists, they only need to be human, says Bad Girl director Varsha Bharath

Chennai, Jan 27 (IANS) Varsha Bharath, the director of the upcoming Tamil film Bad Girl, has said that women don’t need to be purists and that they only need to be human.
 

Speaking at the teaser launch of the film, which has been produced by ace director Vetrimaran and presented jointly by Anurag Kashyap and Vetrimaran, Varsha Bharath said, “I have one main point to address. The title of the film is ‘Bad Girl’. Recently, a screening was organized for some filmmakers. Many of them, after the screening, asked why we had titled the film as Bad Girl as it gave a negative connotation.

“Is this (referring to the protagonist’s character in the film) a bad girl? I really don’t have answers to that because I am not judging her. I have just written a very human character. She is flawed, she makes some bad decisions, she hurts herself in the process. She doesn’t hurt other people. She repents. She survives,” she said.

Crediting her lead actress Anjali Sivaraman for carrying the film on her shoulders, the director said, “ It is so hard to play such a grey character and Anjali has just carried the film on her shoulders. She has not judged the character one bit. I am so grateful for that.”

The actress then went to say, “In Tamil mainstream cinema, the narrative has always been that a woman is a flower, a virtuous person, a goddess, a mother, a pure person. I feel that that is too much pressure for women to carry on their shoulders. So, I just wanted to write a character that’s very relatable.”

Stating that this 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.”

--IANS

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