18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Param Sundari trailer: UAE creators react as Bollywood stereotypes Keralites yet again
Bollywood has come under fire yet again for a stereotypical representation, as Param Sundari, starring Siddharth Malhotra and Jahnvi Kapoor, dropped its trailer.
The trailer showcases what seems to be a typical love story — one that crosses borders in a South Indian girl, North Indian guy narrative.
Forty seconds into the trailer, and the stereotypes begin. If you didn't know any better, you may think Bollywood was trying to rage-bait its viewers (this might still be a possibility). Many commenters also drew parallels of the poor representation, with the character Shalini Unnikrishnan in The Kerala Story.
Janhvi introduces herself as Thekappatil Sundari Damodaran Pillai - a long-winded name, which couples the place with the name of the person. Such names that begin with the place marks an era that ended with our grandparents' generation. But Bollywood seems to be still stuck in those times.
As Sundari introduces herself, she is seen dancing Mohiniyattam, a classical Indian dance originating from Kerala. A montage of boat racing, climbing coconut trees, and Param (Siddharth's character) learning Kalaripayattu (a Kerala-origin martial art) is what follows.
While these are popular in Kerala, the trailer seems to suggest Malayalees are always doing one of these activities at any given time. But while these can perhaps be forgiven, what really hurts is Sundari's random insertion of the Malayalam term Manunni (which roughly translates to a naive person, depending on the context).
The trailer ends in what seems to be, ironically, an attempt to correct stereotypes. Sundari is seen explaining the difference between South Indian states by mentioning their languages and a famous actor of each state.
After explaining that every South Indian is not Madrasi, she goes on to speak a sentence in what is supposed to be Malayalam; no matter how many times it was replayed, this writer could not make head or tail of it, and nor could several other Malayalee creators.
Noora Al Helali, an Emirati creator famous for speaking Malayalam fluently along with her sister, called out the lack of effort on the part of the movie crew to learn the language.
She acknowledged that while there are words that are difficult to pronounce for those not native to Kerala, the cast could have sat down with a dubbing artist for a better command of Malayalam, or to fix certain phrases.
Ahmed AlKaashekh, a UAE-based influencer who hails from Kerala, called on Bollywood to do better if they are attempting to showcase diverse cultures.
"It is 2025, and we are done with the lungi dance, the mullapoo (jasmine flowers), the Rajnikanth references."
Pavithra Menon, a singer and television presenter from Kerala, questioned why the makers of such movies refuse to cast an actual Malayalee actress who has a strong command of the language.
There also seems to be censorship of backlash against Param Sundari, which is landing in theatres on August 29. Menon reuploaded her video after the original rant was removed by Instagram.
