Tauba! Tauba! What? Sixteen- year- old girls in India having random sex? Kya budatmeezi! Can't be! Hello? Wake up! It's happening. Watch out, parents! There is a really, really scary movie running at a friendly, neighbourhood theatre nearest to you.
It features monsters of a kind you really don't want to mess with. And they have a name - teenagers. The promos intrigued me hugely because I found the dialogues super fabulous. Especially the lines between a group of innocent faced girls, one of whom declares confidently and knowingly, "Boys just want one thing." Her friend replies tartly, "But girls also want that same thing." True?? Yes, yes, yes. And let's stop kidding ourselves that our underage daughters are virginal and as pure as driven snow. Tough to accept, but entirely accurate.
There's another line in the promo in which the girl says witheringly to a callow fellow, "I don't like you because you have a small one.... and I am not talking about your cell phone." Gulp. We can handle it. Or, can we? The interesting thing about indie films is that the makers can afford to take risks and push the envelope. Our audiences too are embracing these - ahem - 'small' films (featuring newcomers) with an openness that should serve as a wake-up call for the Big Boys of Bollywood. 'Sixteen' tackles pretty tricky terrain and speaks the brutally blunt teen lingo of today. If it sends shock waves down several parental spines, I guess it's time for the parents to go in for a reality check. Let's face it - more and more desi urban female teens are indeed having sex. Deal with it.
"You elders are such hypocrites," mocks one of the girls in the movie, as she addresses an older person. So true. Parents the world over fall into the same silly trap of lecturing teens about the evils of pre-marital sex, smoking, drinking, partying, not studying enough, wearing too much make-up, dressing in clothes that are too short, too tight... oh, a whole host of other stuff that teenagers routinely ignore. Try talking sense to raging hormones. At any age (Berloscuni... Murdoch.... Raghavji). Teenagers believe they possess a special license to disregard adult bhashans. Accept that and then open your mouth, folks. If open it, you must.
"Sixteen' deals with a taboo subject - teen sex. Teenage sexuality terrifies society. For centuries, we have propagated the sterling virtue of virginity. Countless films and television serials have depicted grim faced mothers exhorting their beautiful, frisky daughters to hang on to the hymen ("It is the best gift you can give your husband on the suhaag raat"). Suddenly that dearly held belief has been tossed out of the window. Here we are discussing a mainstream movie that challenges the cherished status quo ("no sex, please, we are teenagers") and shows sixteen-yearolds claiming control over their bodies. This is a bold and radical statement that immediately dates other films which tamely deal with contemporary adult sexuality.
Even if the film tanks, it will be interesting to monitor reactions to it. A fresh dialogue has been initiated.... it is up to us to take it forward in the right spirit. Yes, there is confusion, pain and heartbreak involved. But a movie that tackles all of this in an upfront way is certainly laying the path for future explorations of a prickly subject. It's time to take the blinkers off and pay attention to the subtext of this particular dilemma. Most parents avoid addressing matters related to sex, period. More so, when teenage daughters are involved. It's easier to play ostrich. And easier still to preach in lofty terms ("Beta....in our times we used to play more physical games like badminton and kho-kho. There was no time or energy left for 'other' activities "). The word 'other' was uttered soto-voce, just in case its implication was lost on the deafby-choice daughter.
"Sixteen' has brazenly tabled this 'other' forbidden activity. Now what? Are parents going to invest in chastity belts for their girls? Lock them up at home? Or foolishly spy on them? Worse, will they hire burly bodyguards to make sure their girls cannot 'do it' without facing dire consequences?
The term "Sweet Sixteen' is just that - sweet. It's a delicious age designed for rebellion, recklessness and... yes ... sex. Sixteen year-old girls are having it, have always had it and will continue to have it. It's parents and moralists who need to grow up and help youngsters arrive at the right choices for themselves, without fear of terrible retribution. How about a film titled 'Sixty?" to educate senior citizens?
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