3-02-16 Katha (Story 1983) - Binary

Sai Paranjpye's film, Katha, has a handful of unique characters that no matter the time on screen, the characterization of many of these characters is well done as each character stands out in one way or another. The lead character, Rajaram is one such unique character that, despite his honesty and genuine goodness, viewers are still filled with mix emotions about him similar to his foil Bashu. Both characters exhibit traits that we either find endearing, funny, interesting, clever or irritating, despicable, and so on. Rajaram seems to represent a particular role in the film's satirical universe that is much to the same design of what Thabith presented on and that is how Rajaram;s character is an extreme like Bashu with which other characters find themselves between like Thabith mentions. These characters present the parameters to which other people operate within typically. 

This parameter divide then becomes more interesting when we take into consideration the behaviors of Rajaram and Bashu within a gendered binary focus wherein Bashu is a "man" and Rajaram is portrayed as effeminate or a "woman." The blogspot reading labels Rajaram as "the earnest, do-gooder" and Bashu as the "charming conman" and in the film we learn that Rajaram has a degree and worked hard to achieve it as well as he works incredibly hard. These traits in this character show off his sustainability and his work ethic but it is also important to recognize how unabashedly kind he is to everyone in the chawl and out. It could be argued that Rajaram is a representation of an almost chaotic good character but for the sake of developing the importance of this gender binary concept in the film, I won't delve into that possibility. 

The intrigue of these traits of sustainability, kindness, honesty, and genuine good-nature are then the fundamental traits of this feminized character that represents the society's idea of a "womanly" person. In Sangeeta Datta's "Shyam Benegal," She depicts how film has been able to shed light on the struggles of women being marginalized in Indian society and Katha works to show some amount of this in quite a few ways with the women in the film but also with Rajaram, whom is essentially the representation of femininity which is an interesting decision to have a male in such a position in this narrative but in a patriarchal society, being a man is more of a norm and because of this, the neutral or normal decision for a character is  a man, regardless of what the character is being used to portray. 

Despite this male representor of femininity, Rajaram is still able to operate as a character that shows the ways in which women are oppressed or viewed as too idealistic or passive, traits that are often driven into women living within patriarchies. The director seems to deliberately play with these gendered traits when Rajaram is at work and acting incredibly nervous due to the women making advances on him, going so far as to present an apple, which given the context of the situation seems more of a sexual invitation using Freudian symbolism of a fruit that is commonly associated with a woman's breasts. This scene turns the gender binary on its head as it portrays these women as being sexually forthcoming almost to the extent of harassment, which in the following dream that Rajaram has, is exactly how he felt about the situation. 

The other side of the reason for Rajaram's feminine role other than a patriarchal normative expectation is also another way in which Paranjpye plays with the gender roles and expectations. Even though we often see shots of Rajaram in the kitchen while Bashu takes advantage of his kindness, the underlying factor is that Rajaram is the "breadwinner" in the house. He has a job and makes money while the "man" lazes about and barks orders at the "woman." When watching his company's new advertisement that literally features a man stalking a woman and cat-calling her, he comments on how childish the idea is, suggesting how inappropriate it is while the women he works with glaze over Rajaram's assessment and instead proceed to flirtatiously call out to him. 

So while it may seem like men dominate the film, the traits that comprise the embodiment of femininity within Rajaram, still exhibits some gender normative traits which could be discounted by the way other women act in the film but, overall the qualities suggest the honesty, kindness, diligence, and  idealism in women that are at first overlooked by everyone in the film but in the end recognized as being the most important while the embodiment of the oppressive man leaves entirely to poison another community with his lies and conniving ways. This binary that Thabith mentions, operates on different levels as there are frequently parallels drawn in the film, notably the gender discrepancy.