Vakeel Saab Trailer: A Blatant Glorification Of The Male Saviour In A Women-Centric Story

The Vakeel Saab trailer, released March 29, has managed to drum up intense excitement among fans of Telugu star Pawan Kalyan after whose role the film takes its name. That said, believe it or not, the film is actually centred around three women and their confrontation with sexual assault. Sounds familiar? Vakeel Saab is a remake of the 2016 Hindi courtroom drama Pink, a watershed film in Indian cinema for the brutal hyper-realism and ideal resolution it portrayed in the case of assault survivors, the justice system and women's safety.

Vakeel Saab also features (because it seems from the trailer as if they don't really star in it) Nivetha Thomas, Anjali and Ananya Nagalla, alongside "Power Star" Kalyan who takes the spotlight as the sole lead. And if the film's name didn't make clear enough whom Vakeel Saab will predominantly revolve around, its posters, title design and promotional content starring Kalyan alone will.

When attention to the female narrative is discounted and constructed wholly from the male gaze, does it really remain a women-centric film? With the focus centred around the heroism of Kalyan, who plays advocate Satyadev defending the girls in court when they are at a societal disadvantage, to what end does the movie serve? Looking at how blatantly the Vakeel Saab trailer places the man at the fore in a story about women, the male saviour complex themes appear to be potently strong with this one.

Vakeel Saab Trailer: Where Are The Women In Women's Stories?

Pink featured Amitabh Bachchan alongside younger, newer actors like Taapsee Pannu and Kirti Kulhari. And so, the possibility of Pink going the Vakeel Saab route was almost entirely possible. (Some may even argue it did go down that route.) But largely, the pull of Pink was not Bachchan, who played the role Kalyan is playing in Vakeel Saab. 

The dynamics of the three female characters - Minal, Andrea and Falak - with the gender-power hierarchy and social stigma they were caught in and ultimate redemption of sorts set Pink apart in the way women's stories are dealt with in Bollywood. In all this, Bachchan's character, no matter how profoundly layered and well-written, was only a vehicle to justice.

The Vakeel Saab trailer, in comparison, is almost unbelievable in the way it puts the defence lawyer on the pedestal, not just in the courtroom but also banally outside it, handing Kalyan's character a stick with which to physically defend the three 'helpless women in need' from the bad guys. What is the remaining worth of a story about crediting women's issues when the attention is wilfully drawn away from it and onto aggrandising the male saviour figure?

For the most part, meaningful space afforded to women in the Vakeel Saab trailer is all when the words coming out of the men's mouths are discussing them in the courtroom. 'If girls can be asked whether they're virgin, can't boys too?' 'What happened shouldn't have happened.' These lines seem all too empowering in the context of justice for female survivors of assault. But do they encompass anything more than impactful screen delivery? Will they go beyond adding to the star power of Power Star Kalyan?

Watch the Vakeel Saab trailer here: 

Views expressed are the author's own.