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Do our films need a dress code?
 


Ramaa
Chennai
behindw@behindwoods.com

The past week saw a heated debate among the public about the introduction of a uniform dress code for girl students of the world-famous Anna University in Chennai. All the colleges affiliated to the University have to comply with the rule. While we wish to keep the discussion on the rule for another day, we would like to project the impact of the rule on the most popular mass medium – our films. What would be the implication if if there were a dress code for our heroes and and heroines? Has there been one so far?

In the early days, most of our films had heroine clad head to toe in regal finery. Stories revolved around kings and queens and the popular perception of affluence was confirmed through fine clothes. In the case of social themes, clothes were mostly simple and everyday wear. Even the item girls wore only tight-fitting but not revealing clothes. Films of the era did not create a fashion trend except for the isolated MKT hairstyle or Gemini pants. With the onset of colour, clothes and hairstyle became more prominent. Heroines often wore clothes which did not suit their body structure. From saris, they moved to salwars and the occasional skirt. Not much changed for the men, however.

With the introduction of village themes, the traditional attire of women came to the fore. The dawn of modern era was announced with the arrival of jeans and unisex clothing for women. We have come so far that these days there is not much difference in the clothes of the heroines and the item girls. The plethora of professional models entering movies has dictated ramp trends to be translated on to the screen.

Is this a healthy trend? While we firmly believe that the choice of clothes is a very personal matter, we must acknowledge the impact of a powerful medium like cinema on our collective culture. Cinema does not corrupt us directly yet it does influence us. Shocking clothes on screen lead to the same being replicated in real life. We do not want Talibanisation of cinema, yet we would like to see our heroines in wearable clothes.

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