Guys! Ram Gopal Verma Has A New Movie With A Kickass Heroine But It’s So Sexualised, It’s Slightly Pornographic

Considered a pioneer in Indian cinema for the gritty realism shown in his films, Ram Gopal Varma has come full circle in being the victim of his own formula. He is the mind behind Indian classics like Satya (1998) and Sarkar (2005) He is no stranger to controversies as well, the recent one being him facing legal charges for shooting a pornographic film (God, Sex and Truth) with actress Mia Malkova last year. Apart from penning great stories, he also boasts of being the writer of highly controversial tweets, one of which was particularly distasteful for shaming a female journalist’s looks. It is safe to say that the man is “eccentric”, some of his recent flops being a testament to how we cannot rely on his taste as a filmmaker. Case in point: His latest passion project Enter The Girl Dragon, starring newcomer Pooja Bhalekar in an action-packed role.

We have spoken at length on the effect cinema can have on society in general. The kind of content filmmakers try to put on screens have direct consequences in reality. Thus, the need for them to be responsible. Which is far from what RGV was while making his martial arts “magnum opus”, which looks more like a sexploitation film than an empowering film with an action heroine.

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When we saw that the film’s teaser was trending, the prospect of a woman kicking major ass in a saree excited us. That was before we realized that that saree came sans the petticoat and the rest of the film falls short on providing clothing for the heroine to the point that it’s dangerous. She isn’t even afforded the comfort of a sports bra while she is chasing hooligans, so you’re constantly worried that she will injure herself with her own boobs. C’mon RGV, this is so basic!

Jokes aside though, this film is very problematic on so many levels. We have had influential action heroines in cinema. From Uma Thurman in Kill Bill (2003) to Anushka Shetty’s turn as a warrior princess in Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), these women were still strong in yellow tracksuits and a nauvari saree. They didn’t have to endure Baywatch style slo-mo runs and uncomfortably cropped booty shorts while performing intense action sequences. Props to the action director and Pooja though, the scenes do look stunning, technically. We can only imagine the kind of preparation that went into for pulling off such a physicality. If only the film was more respectful of that!

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T 3563 – Ram Gopal Varma's .. SARKAAAAR 's .. new film new film ENTER THE GIRL DRAGON India’s first martial arts film …An Indo chinese co production https://t.co/Al7dTiZvXE

as always Ramu my good wishes ..🙏👏

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) November 28, 2019

Touted as “India’s First Martial Arts Film” (LOL, what?), the teaser is a three-minute-long collection of aesthetic shots of Pooja kicking men’s balls while wearing skimpy clothes, a gratuitous sex scene, and multiple wasted opportunities of making a great action flick with a female lead. Even with a full catsuit on, Black Widow from the Marvel films is one of the sexiest actions stars of all time. You don’t have to strip a woman down to show her oiled up abs, we know they are there, she just did a double high kick for god’s sake! How has the obviously offending film passed under the radar, AND is being appreciated by industry big names like Amitabh Bachchan?

Don’t get us wrong, there have been movies in the past where a woman’s sexuality has been featured in order to show her as an influential character. But those are storylines which required the woman to rely on her being drop-dead gorgeous to further the plot. Even in action flicks where they have portrayed the woman in tactical gear and all kinds of sexy, the Lara Croft series and Shraddha Kapoor in Baaghi come under this, it never comes off as exploitative. Not down to this level, at least.

The 2017 French film Revenge, directed by Coralie Fargeat is a good example of how to create a skimpy action heroine without ever having it being deemed offensive. RGV’s action flick shows exactly why the male gaze can render even the strongest female character as a mere sex object. The only logical explanation for Pooja Bhalekar’s outfit choices would be that they ran out of budget for even basic undergarments, but that is highly unlikely!

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While we can go on and on about the flaws in this film, including RGV’s obsession with thighs (what’s up with that?), we have stop right here and move on to greener pastures. FYI, no tickets, please!