By Shruthi Prakash:
Let us begin with a short story on the lives of many Indians, whiling away our time in front of 4.5 inch screens. We were once a nation, too proud of our treasures and our zeroes, when our Western counterparts paid visit to our ‘exotic’ homeland. They robbed us off our mighty pride, but thanks to some sexually charged men and internet, of course, the book that makes everyone’s day (and noon and night), the Kamasutra, created an identity for our dear ‘mother’ India. This identity, is now one that is gradually moving past the tag of a ‘taboo’.
Polyester Padmini, Cotton Kamini, Rayon Revathi, Nylon Nalini and Silk Smitha go to show how far Indians can go to take their actresses and alliterations seriously. But amongst the actresses we’ve welcomed and stereotypically lost to a man’s hand in marriage, there remains one figure who has set the bar up high for women in Indian cinema. Sunny Leone, a revolutionary figure who continues to challenge and alter Indian ‘culture’.
She captured the Indian audience like a cyclone, and has been a wave we cannot escape, and honestly, why would you not want to be drenched by such a personality? Having begun her successful journey as a pornography actress, needless of justification, it is established that her path into the Indian mindset was a mammoth task. Having traditions and customs that are deep rooted, in the least to say, one can barely comprehend how a woman basing her career on an Indian taboo succeeds. But, if anyone can thrive, I believe it is her.
Though there have been women in the past who have questioned the Indian standards of the ‘normal’ and the ‘inferior’, there are a handpicked few who can match her stature. Despite women having always been subject to objectification, and explicitly beautifying a woman’s curves and cuts are not matters of surprise, what thrills me about her is that the woman, for once, got the upper hand. She took charge and claimed her own space. Not only did she know her game, she knows how to own it. She knows how to play the ‘ball’ on her court.
She brought to the forefront, the basic need – sex (and all related strings attached) and normalised it in the minds of many, and this is a reason to rejoice. The stigma attached to pornographic stars were redefined, and the expression of pleasure, celebrated. She took to being the symbol of progress for a nation, and a boon for those struggling for self-expression on screen. Art can now breathe, almost in its entirety.
From her cutthroat interviews, ‘villas’ she has split and all the “Mastizaades” she has reached, she has retained the image of a confident woman who relied on herself and her body solely for the top position that she rocks today. She has brought to the forefront an opportunity to enjoy a means of self-depiction, and has broken the walls of a bedroom. She has empowered women to be proud of their bodies and celebrate this unique creation and not feel guilty of the same. Virginia Woolf believed a woman needs a room of one’s own, but what Sunny did was go beyond just taking control of her space, she gave the much needed mental freedom for many men and women who were previously caged by the society.
All in all, Sunny has brought to light our darkest secrets, successfully ‘cum-pleting’ the hardest job she has ever embarked upon.
This article was originally published on the author’s personal blog.
The post Sunny Leone Is The Best Thing To Have Happened To An Indian Living Room appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz, an award-winning online platform that serves as the hub of thoughtful opinions and reportage on the world's most pressing issues, as witnessed by the current generation. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.