Stereotypes

Legal notice sent to MX Player show Pati, Patni aur Panga for transphobic and defamatory content

The legal notice against Pati, Patni aur Panga, states that the show and its trailer ‘perpetuate and propagate social stigma, stereotypes and humiliations faced by queer and transgender persons.’

The Love Guru: Racism of Mike Myers' 2008 film is just one sparkling gem in its diadem of problematic-ness

We’ve covered some pretty God-awful films in this column and even otherwise, I have watched some really, really bad movies in my lifetime. The Love Guru managed to stand out among all of these as a truly horrific feat of cinematic putrescence. | Kuzhali Manickavel writes

Allegedly Problematic: Mike Myers' 2008 film The Love Guru shows us that white dudes really can do anything

If I were to categorise The Love Guru, I think it would come under ‘white-dude-makes-movie-about-India/Indian-things- without-knowing-anything-about-these-things’. This is an extremely popular genre among white dudes. | Kuzhali Manickavel writes

Basmati Blues: Brie Larson-starrer is particularly befuddling in an era when we are supposed to know better

In this gilded age of internets and computers and the burdensome necessity of being woke, we have in Basmati Blues a movie where the happy Indian villagers proudly live up to the stereotype of being happy Indian villagers and nothing else | Kuzhali Manickavel writes

Basmati Blues: 'Just how did this get made?' and other thoughts, on watching Brie Larson-starrer

'I was, of course, scared to watch Basmati Blues,' writes Kuzhali Manickavel. 'While one sort of knows what to expect from racism from the 1800s or the 1980s, the mind boggles to consider what the new millennium will offer: is this going to be about white people coming to save the Indians except there’s internet? Do the Indians need saving because they are Indians, even though they have cell phones? Is India going to scare the woke white person, like it usually does? Why does India do that anyway? And is it racist for a country to be scary to white people?'

Can a cinematic masterpiece also be racist to Indians? 1947's Black Narcissus proves, yes it can

Black Narcissus, which came out in 1947, is about nuns in the Himalayas and local people who don’t know anything because they are brown. And one of the nuns goes crazy. And there’s an English guy | Kuzhali Manickavel writes

The story of Black Narcissus, 1947, is set in India. But it's a film about white people and their feelings

Black Narcissus is really only about the white people and how they feel and all about their feelings. Everything is hard and different. They get weird rashes, they forget to plant vegetables, the atmosphere of this strange place is just so strange and as a result, so many feelings | Kuzhali Manickavel writes

The Tiger of Eschnapur thrives on the idea that an accurate representation of India is not worth worrying about

Wading through all the heavy-handed exotica of The Tiger of Eschnapur, one can’t help but feel that sometimes, India only seems worth talking about if the story-teller gets to make up their own version of India.

The Tiger of Eschnapur: Fritz Lang's 1959 film is peak white dude's vision of a made-up India

In this column, we'll whine about how yet another obscure old movie — The Tiger of Eschnapur — was being mean to India | Kuzhali Manickavel writes in #AllegedlyProblematic

Research shows limiting choice of toys for children reinforces stereotypes

While buying toys, parents should consider the child's interests, not their gender because limiting choice of toys can fuel stereotypes, suggests research.