BETWEEN NATURALISM AND THE MALE GAZE: A FEMINIST RE-READING OF WOMEN’S EMOTIONAL AGENCY IN BALU MAHENDRA’S FILMS FROM A GEN Z PERSPECTIVE

Abstract [English]

This paper offers a feminist rereading of women's emotional agency in Balu Mahendra's films by situating his cinematic practice between naturalistic realism and the theoretical framework of the male gaze proposed by Laura Mulvey. Famous for transforming Tamil cinema through restrained performances, location-based shooting and psychological nuances, Mahendra is often cited as a pioneer of visual naturalism. However, this study argues that realism does not automatically guarantee feminist representation. Instead, his films reveal a productive tension: while women are granted emotional depth and interiority, their subjectivity is often structured through male desire, narrative control, and visual alignment. Through close textual analysis of Moondram Pirai, Veedu and partner Leelavati, the paper examines how emotional labour, vulnerability, endurance and resilience function within a narrative and visual framework. In Moondram Crush, innocence and fragility are aestheticized, complicating the boundary between empathy and objectification. In Veedu, the everyday struggle brings out female perseverance as honourable resistance within the bureaucratic and patriarchal system. In Sathi Lilavati, marital conflict highlights the normalization of women's emotional sacrifice within comic reconciliation structures. Employing a Gen Z interpretive lens – shaped by digital feminism, consent discourse, and increased media literacy – this study re-evaluates previously celebratory readings of Mahendra's cinema. Contemporary audiences are more familiar with subtle visual power dynamics, questioning whether emotional intensity translates into structural autonomy. The concept of "emotional agency" is thus introduced as an important tool for assessing how women's emotions work simultaneously as mechanisms of narrative motivation and containment. By combining naturalism, feminist film theory and generational criticism, this paper contributes to developing conversations in Tamil cinema studies and global feminist media scholarship. It shows that Mahendra's work occupies an ambiguous space – neither entirely liberating nor entirely complex – inviting renewed critical engagement across generations.