Films with 'larger-than-life male heroes' signs of patriarchy: Paoli Dam

Kolkata: Actor Paoli Dam of Hate Story fame on Friday said she does not like the conventional films having "larger-than-life male heroes" as those are signs of patriarchy.

Paoli said she mostly selects movies in which women are in lead roles.

She is essaying the role of the female protagonist in Chhad (Terrace), a Bengali film produced by the NFDC after 15 years.

“The demarcation between films with larger-than-life male characters as heroes and content-rich films having women in lead roles should erase gradually,” she said.

The larger-than-life male hero is a sign of the patriarchal system,” Paoli told PTI on the sidelines of the trailer launch of Chhad, which will hit the screens on March 8, International Women's Day.

"I choose characters which I identify with in some way or other," she said.

For her character in ‘Chhad’, the terrace is a metaphor for freedom, Paoli said.

“My character can never see the open sky from the sideway window as the view from her room is blocked by walls. So the woman, who loves to write stories, draw pictures and imparts tuition to children, chooses terrace as the subject which is the space for her liberated soul," she said.

Her other major films include 'Kaalbela' (2009), 'Elar Char Adhyay' (2012), 'Sab Charitro Kalponik' (2009), 'Moner Manush' (2010) and 'Machher Jhol' (2017).

Paoli said she is happy that the NFDC-produced film which earned accolades in film festivals in Dhaka, Toronto and elsewhere is being released on International Women's Day.

An NFDC spokesperson said, "We produced a Bengali film after 15 years. The last Bengali film produced by NFDC was Mayabazaar in 2012," he said.

The motto of NFDC is to produce interesting films of new directors and encourage them to make more regional films, he said.