Portraying pain with care: The importance of sensitive storytelling

Guwahati, July 25: Over the years Assamese film industry has evolved touching all the areas in terms of creativity, storyline, acting, and ability to deliver their message to the audience. ‘Bidurbhai’, directed by Suvrat Kakoti, is one of those movies that was able to deliver its message through satirical comedy.

The movie is a sequel to the web series ‘Bidurbhai’, released in 2021, based on adversities faced by the common man during the COVID lockdown.

Although the movie entertained the audience, which is evident as all movie theatres are houseful, yet there was a flaw in their storyline. It may be a small part for the audience but it reflects how we treat sexual assault on men, an issue that should be handled with utmost care and sensitivity.

I recently came across the reaction of Rituparna Neog, Associate Vice Chairperson of the State Transgender Welfare Board Assam, Member of the National Council for Transgender Persons, GoI and queer activist, who highlighted how the issue of sexual assault was treated in the movie and read the comments on her post. Most of them said she is speaking so because she can’t tolerate an Assamese movie doing well in the theatres while others asked her to ‘take it as entertainment.’ But can movies be just a source of entertainment? Or do they also have the ability to influence the society?

If you just Google ‘Are movies just for entertainment?’, you will find that movies can do more than just entertain the audience. It is the door to knowledge of art, history, society and so on.

How often have you heard of fans getting inspired by a movie to pull off a dangerous stunt? It is because the maturity of the audience in general is relatively low in our country, compared to the West.

After reading the reaction of Rituparna, I went to watch the movie to see whether what she wrote is a valid point to be raised when rape on anyone, irrespective of gender, is a sensitive issue.

Honestly, in the beginning, I was enjoying their acting, dialogues and felt like this is what we want from the satirical genre. But as the plot progressed and the scene of Ujjal da (one of the protagonists) being raped was shown, the music was not as intense as it should have been as rape is a delicate subject.

Later, when the victim was narrating his nightmare, the intensity of the moment was somewhat better yet it could not stop the audience from laughing and reflect the seriousness of the scene.

When The Assam Tribune reached out to Rituparna, she highlighted how important it was to raise this issue as rape is not a topic to be laughed at. She said, “I went to watch the movie as the review was great. I first got offended when they used the dialogue ‘MLA sir e latrine r baat tu khuli dile’. This dialogue had so much double meaning that it creeped me out. Also, the song they used before the MLA raped him was offensive. The amount of intensity that should have been used in the movie for the rape scene was not as severe as when used for girl victims.”

“I also didn’t like the portrayal of the MLA as gay. Why do we have to generalise the sexual identity of a person in a stereotypical manner? This is not how gay men behave. The LGBTQ+ community is already marginalised and such kinds of depictions of our community in one of the popular movies make our life even more difficult,” she said.

“People tend to not understand what kind of trauma a heterosexual man goes through when he is raped. The amount of humiliation, being unable to speak to his friends, family, and so much more he has to go through. The way the audience reacted to the scenes was also disheartening for me as it reflected how male victims would be afraid to share their ordeal,” she asserted.

She also focused on the poor use of dialogues. She said, “Will we say being heterosexual is not a big deal but being a rapist is? Then why the dialogue, ‘being gay is not a big deal but being rapist is’ is used?”

“Although most of the scenes where they were touching the topic of rape on men didn’t capture the audience’s rational mind, but the scene where the victim was trying to wash off the parts of his body where the rapist touched him was intense. There they were able to deliver the severity of the moment,” she added.

Later, when Director Suvrat Kakoti was asked about the scenes, he said, “The script was written after thorough research by interacting with rape victims of how they reacted and overcame the trauma. You might have noticed the facial expression of Ujjal da when he came out of the room and it was raining heavily. We tried to use the same amount of intensity as we would have used if the victim was a female. The audience's reaction is not in our hands, but we did have in our backdrop to handle the matter with sensitivity.”

According to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2022, rape cases of women registered in Assam were 1,113, however, there are no records of male victims for the said year. Moreover, records under POCSO Act revealed 548 minor girls being raped, while records of male and trans victims were NIL. Through this, it could be ascertained that there is a possibility that these cases go unreported due to societal pressure and humiliation.

On this, child rights activist Miguel Das Queah said, “Sexual assault against male children is often underreported, attributed to various factors, including the widespread misconception that sexual assault is exclusive to female minors, and societal narratives that reject the notion of male vulnerability or victimhood.”

“Moreover, children with diverse sexual identities or transgender children often hesitate to report sexual violence, fearing that engagement with the criminal justice system could compromise their privacy, including the disclosure of their gender or sexual identities, or their online presence on gay dating sites, to their families and communities, resulting in stigma and isolation. Therefore, it is essential for the entire ecosystem to reject stereotypes, promote sensitivity, and safeguard the rights of male children who are victims of sexual violence,” he added.

‘Bidurbhai’ is just one example where the filmmakers failed to deliver a sensitive topic to the masses. If they had delivered more or less intensity in the scene where the child died (though it is true that one cannot compare death and rape), maybe the movie would have been flawless for movie enthusiasts.