WHY FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SEKHAR KAMMULA FILMS ARE ICONIC EVEN IN CINEMA TODAY

Sekhar Kammula is an Indian film director, producer, screenplay writer but, most importantly a fantastic story teller. Sekhar Kammula garu is known for telling heart warming and feel good stories but, he also happens to write Telugu cinemas most iconic female characters. The female leads in his film are free spirited and not beaten into a box of expectations. They don’t fall into a solid stereotype, they are a lot more than just heroines. Through out the film his female characters are goal driven, independent and opinionated. Unlike most characters in films They don’t go out on the sole purpose of finding love, they have careers and are very passionate about various aspects in life. They build their own support systems and have immense self respect. None of his characters are black [evil] or white[Good] they are all grey and change over the course of the film. They act based on circumstances and are not consistently a ‘type’.  The female leads in his films have both substance and vanity. Ohaa telisinapudi nunchi I have admired these women and these characters have sometimes even factored into my decision making skills  and that, is when I realized how much cinema influences the audience.    Apatinunchi iconic iconic antuna kani I never told you ‘‘why these characters are worth remembering’’ ippudu chepta. 

1.Rupa from Anand [2004] 

Rupa is a phenomenal character played by Kamilini Mukharjee in the film Anand. The character Rupa has a complex story arc, the film starts off with rupa’s family dying in a car accident. Through the course of time Rupa  grows up to be a independent and  strong willed woman, who carries herself with immense self esteem. Rupa decides to call off her wedding on the very day  because her fiancé  Rahul doesn’t support her during a discussion with his mother. She realizes that she will be oppressed and will not have any freedom whatsoever after the marriage. She also finds that there is a lack of respect for her in that family. This makes her take the  bold and independent decision of calling off the wedding.  She also looks after her friends and neighbors like their her own family. Correct ga cheppali ante gadusu pilla kani gundello boledantha prema. She never hesitates to call Anand [ the hero played by raja] out for making her feel uncomfortable or even trying to control her decisions regarding Rahul. And in the climax she decides to forgive Anand’s father for being the cause for the accident that lead to the loss of her parents. This tells the audience that she was both  forgiving and sensitive. 

2. Seeta from Godavari [2006]

Seeta ane character ni oka sentence lo explain cheyali ante, Kopam vachinapudu thitti, navvu vachinapudu navuthundi. She reacts to things only based on how she feels about them. Career lo oka unsuccessful boutique naduputhu unna she doesn’t want to give up.Thana parents pelli gurinchi pette charcha ku longadu. She has a mind of her own. Which is exactly how bawse women are today. Cinemalo final ga thanu pelliki oppukuna pellikoduku vallu think she is too progressive. That’s a scenario which plays out in families even today. Her free spirited attitude is what makes her mana inti ammayi. Kani, she is not perfect she jumps to conclusuions very quicky and apardam cheskuvadamlo 1st class student and that is what makes her more real and original. ye ammayi flaws lekunda undadu ani clear ga sekhar kammula gari films lo chuduchu. Flaws una thanu rama chakkani seethe

Madhu, Appu and Shravs from Happy days [2007]

Madhu aa time lo andari dream girl. Infact, ippudu kuda. Mana pakkinti ammayi lane untundi. She is friendly and kind. She loves her parents to the moon. Kani, ee cinemalo iconic character na opinion lo ayithe appu. She breaks all the stereotypes, ammayi ila undali ani evaru cheppalenanthaga. She is just herself naturally. She cares about her friends and she’s sensitive kani, that doesn’t mean she can’t be mean. She goes out of the way to do things for madhu. But, as strong as she is portrayed to be she also goes through an identity crisis when she looks at the girls Rajesh [Nikhil] is interested in. This is a natural process of getting to know yourself and she finally realizes that being the best version of herself is the right thing to do. Although, idi story lo antha clear ga explain cheyaka poyina its indicated. Aakhariki Shravs [Shravathi] movie first half lo thana boyfriend thana meeda bet kasi nappudu Shravanthi goes and slaps him. This makes her a strong character. I’m not saying you should go around hitting people but, she took charge of the situation and told him to take his word back which was a pedda thing for me and I had never seen female characters do stuff like that in films back then. Shravs is also independent and despite the love she has for Tyson she chooses her career over him. Which is totally not the way a cliched  love story goes. These are a few things in the movie that made these girls realistic and more relatable. Ante you can watch this film and its safe to say ammayilu ila untaru and undali kuda.

Bhanumati from fidaa [ 2017]

 hybrid pilla Bhanumati gurinchi cheppalante avadigariki unnantha confidence nenu ee character lo chudaledu, ee recent times lo. She was andari favorite. But, she’s a lot more than just that. Bhanumati urlo chadukune subject BSC agriculture despite  the norm of everybody becoming doctors or engineers. She is totally against the idea of leaving her family after her marriage which is also a big deal for people living in small towns and even in cities. She does not hesitate to reject varun’s proposal in her very own bold way. She is compassionate and caring. And even with all these things on her list she’s not portrayed as ideal or perfect. As she is portrayed with a tinge of selfishness. 

Moral of the story entante, none of sekhar garus characters are fictional. They are written and  based on real people. That’s what makes them so relatable. None of the characters are perfect, they have failed at several things in life just like us[ the audience]. That’s , why we  tend to emotionally connect to the film and its story line. This what makes his characters iconic and worth remembering. And from the bottom of my heart I thank him for writing about girls who are relatable and not just glamorous. Yes, they are beautiful and different all in their very own ways.