RESEARCH DOCUMENT -PRIYA ND PUSHU -.pdf

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A STUDY ON THE PORTRAYAL OF DOWRY SYSTEM IN SHORT
FILMS
A research report submitted to the department of Communication English, in partial
fulfilment of the course on Research Methodology.
Submitted by:
Indira Priya Dharsini M (20PJ016A)
Pushpa Kumari S (20PJ033H)
Supervised by Rupa Peter
Centre For Media Studies
Jyoti Nivas College Autonomous
Bangalore 560095

PORTRAYAL OF DOWRY SYSTEM IN SHORT FILMS 1
A STUDY ON THE PORTRAYAL OF DOWRY SYSTEM IN SHORT
FILMS
By
Indira Priya Dharsini M (20PJ016A)
From 2nd Year BA PSJCE
Centre For Media Studies
Department of Communicative English
Supervised by Rupa Peter
Date of submission : 04-05-2022

Declaration
We hereby declare that this research report is an original work of ours, which has been
completed at Jyoti Nivas College Autonomous, and has not been previously included in a
thesis or dissertation submitted to this or any other institution for a degree, diploma or other
qualifications.
Indira Priya Dharsini (20PJ016A)
Date:
Place: Bangalore

Certificate by the guide
This is to certify that the research titled “PORTRAYAL OF DOWRY SYSTEM IN SHORT
FILMS” is based on an original study by Pushpa Kumari S (20PJ033H) and Indira Priya
Dharsini M (20PJ016A) under my guidance and supervision during the year 2021 - 2022 in
a partial fulfilment of the completion of the course in Research Methodology, in the
Department of Communicative English of Jyoti Nivas College Autonomous.
Further this report has not been previously submitted to Jyoti Nivas College or any other
institution for a degree, diploma or other qualifications.
Rupa Peter
Research guide

Acknowledgement
We take great pleasure in expressing our sincere thanks to who guided us to complete this
project successfully. We would like to thank Dr. sr. Lalitha Thomas for giving us this
opportunity and endless support to complete this research paper successfully. We would like
to thank all our teachers from department of Communication English, in Jyoti Nivas College
Autonomous. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to our research guide Mrs. Rupa
Peter, for all the valuable suggestions, support and guidance that enabled us to complete this
entire research paper successfully and well within the given time. I would like to thank each
and everyone who encouraged us to complete this research paper successfully. We also thank
God almighty for helping us to complete this project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sl No. contents Page no.
1 Title page 01
2 Declaration 02
3 Certificate 03
4 Acknowledgement 04
5 Abstract 06
6 Introduction 07
7 Review of literature 08
8 Methodology 09
9 Data analysis 10 -21
10 Duration of the study 22
11 Limitation of the study 22
12 Conclusion 23
13 Reference 24

Abstract
Dowry is a social evil in society that has caused unimaginable tortures and crimes towards
women and polluted the Indian marital system. In India Dowry is traditionally designed to
safeguard the women and it was considered to be Streedhan which means wealth of a woman
in form of money , costly gifts ,properties , assets , vehicles etc .But now a days marriage
became a business in the name of Dowry as well as Grooms family are directly approaching
brides family with a fixed price tag for their son and in most case the bride's family will
accept their demand and proceed it with marriage , because many of them are considering
Dowry as their traditional culture . In Southern part of India especially in the state of Tamil
Nadu and Kerala, were practising Dowry system as part of their culture because of their
mentality many womans are tortured by the grooms family , in the name of less Dowry they
are giving them Domestic violence , crutely harrasment ,abetment to suicide and finaly it will
ends up in Dowry death .Even though Dowry is considered to be a punishable offence under
IPC , even after knowing all the consequence of Dowry literate people are slipping into this
.Recently two incident melted everyiones heart a 21 years old Ayurvedhic medical student
Vismaya Nair and 24 years old Archana a Nurse who were tortured mentally as well
physically and lead to death then they overlaped with political influence and made it as
suicide , after this incident most of them slowly starts raising their voice against these
violence through social media , most of the celebrities starts doing short films to make
changes in upcoming generation .This research tries to analyze whether these short films
made any changes in the mindset of the youngsters and will this help us to say NO to Dowry .
This research assesses the portrayal of the dowry system in short films and its impact on the
youth. Three research questions guided the study. The study adopted both qualitative and

quantitative research design. A questionnaire was used for data collection. The analysis of
films shoes that___
The data collected from the questionnaire revealed that short films can influence the youth
about dowry and can also have an impact on their view on it.

Introduction
Even though the first film ever made were short films, they were not as trending as
they are now. With time the genre of film is evolving and growing so is the audience’s
appetite for consumption. Especially after covid-19 pandemic, short films are gaining
popularity now.
Dowry is the money, goods, gifts, or property that the bride gets at the time of her marriage.
Dowry is an ancient custom, it still prevails in the 21st century and resists change. The issues
related to dowry, dowry deaths, murders and suicide, increases everyday. Despite the laws
brought into force to prevent the practice of dowry many households still carry on the
practice and violence against women continues to grow.
The aim of this research is to study the representation of the dowry system in short films,
since the media plays a huge role in educating the public and can have an impact in shaping
our views and perspectives.
Objectives :
1. To study how the dowry system is portrayed in short films.
2. To assess if films normalise the dowry system.
3. To understand if short films create an awareness of dowry among youth.
4. To understand if short films influence people to steer away from dowry.
Research Questions:
1. How is dowry portrayed in short films in terms of plot, character and mise-en-scene?
2. Are young people influenced by short films to discard the dowry system?
3. Have the negative effects of dowry been highlighted in short films?

Review Of Literature
According to Women, Domestic Violence and Role of Indian Electronic Media, the
survey conducted by the author has found that only 5.50% victims who were aware of the
PWVA act credited the source to the media. Media not only reaches the masses at a rapid
pace but also plays the dual role of both a motivator of change as well as instigator for chaos.
Media depiction of any social issues often tends to portray the acceptable perspectives,
because it sells, while other perspectives which “ought” to be focused on, if often neglected.
In the book ‘The Dowry Death’ by Dr. Jyoti analyzes some of the problems faced
by Indian women and ways to come out of it and fight back. The author explores these issues
and tries to give a detailed answer to these complications, she also mentions that most women
are not aware of their rights and hence, they are afraid to showcase their views and raise their
voices against corruption. The dowry has been divided into 27 precise chapters which are
coherent and lucid, the topics discussed are common yet important and everyone can relate to
it.
'Broken Mirror's' by Robin Wyatt, with Nuzia Masood investigates the every problem
of Dowry Deaths and why it continues to haunt Indian society even in the 21st century. The
narrative as it effectively turns it's gaze from the story of a survivor of domestic violence to
that of one accused of the crime. It picks up each of the scattered pieces of the mirror and
looks into them closely and what emerges is a complex portrait of a society.

Research Methodology
The methodology used for this research is mixed method, qualitative and quantitative
research method. We used survey as our tool for quantitative study along with short films as
our sample for qualitative study.
The survey sample included __ participants, expressing their views on the representation of
the dowry system.
Content analysis of five short films of two languages, how the dowry system was portrayed in
the film, whether the film glorified dowry or did it educate the public on how it's an illegal
practice.

Data Analysis
A qualitative research method was used to study the portrayal of the Dowry System in Short
films. This research method helps us to understand the influence of short films with regard to
the dowry system and its impact on youngsters who watch these films, for that we
particularly chose South Indian movies that were released between 2016 - 2022, we
especially focused on only two main south Indian languages such as Tamil and Malayalam .
Content analysis of four malayalam Short films and one tamil short film has been taken for
our research .
Ival vismaya , Say No to Dowry , Dowry , Anti-Dowry these are the four Malayalam Short
films and . Sinthanai Sei Manamae is a Tamil short film that we had chosen for our research
analysis .
Say No to Dowry :
The film criticises the Groom's family who had come to see the Bride
with a fixed price tag for their son, weighing their son's worth with gold, demands for 1kg of
gold and some ready cash on the occasion of marriage, but the bride's father who is well
literate and foresaw this to happen was already prepared with answers, he started questioning
the qualification and worth of the groom in a sarcastic way , at first he asks them if I gave
you this much of Dowry what is the use ? Should I get any interest ? Does your son know
how to cook ? Does he know how to drive a car ? Does he know how to do household chores
? These were some of the questions raised by the Bride's father to the Groom. At the end he
sharpen his point and told them that I raised my daughter to live her life according to her wish
and want to see her happy my entire life, If I have brought her up to where she is, that doesn't
mean I'm going to make a business deal with my daughter in the name of Dowry. So he's
clear that a girl is not an object to sell or buy, she's everything. Without women no one can
survive, her sacrifice is our life , so stop talking business in the name of dowry , with courage
say no to Dowry .
Anti- Dowry:
This short film talks about the modern Vs traditional Dowry system and the
burden that the Bride's parents have to bear during their daughter's marriage . Here we see a
conversation between Groom and Bride's family, in another scene Groom and Bride are
talking about their marriage plans, He wishes that his marriage shouldn't be in a traditional
way according to Hindu traditional culture, by wearing hereditary ornaments and keeping
mangalsutra (thalli) at temple, whereas the bride wants to follow the traditional way of
marriage but he wants to do it in A luxurious way, in a party hall, he also want her to wear
only costly dresses and diamonds, but she disagrees to it. She says"I want to be your partner
to share your life as well as commitments, I don't want to be treated as an object for
exhibition". On another hand His parents was giving order and demands that they have many
VIP relatives and most of them are coming from abroad for their convenience, they need to
arrange a marriage in a five star hotels and for an hour it will cost nearly five lakh, so Bride's
father said they'll go ahead with that but bride and groom's family will share the expense, the

groom's family disagreed stating its bride's family responsibility. The girl's father said if
you're against traditional culture then we can share this and make it into a new method. In the
meanwhile the groom enters the scene and requests his parents to leave immediately. The
film ends with a message, encouraging viewers to stand against the practice of dowry.
Ival Vismaya :
This film is based on the real story of Vismaya, changes were made at the
climax of the film. The film opens with typical Hindu traditional wedding and the wedding
planners, on the same day of their wedding, Vismaya's mother in law took all the gold and
kept it with her, Vismaya can't talk or do anything against their greedy action, after that her
Husband Arun consoled her with a smile saying not to worry and take it easy. The next
morning Vismaya's mother in law went to the goldsmith to check how many pavan did the
Bride's family give to her son, on returning home she complained that her son deserves more
than this 50pavan and 10 lakh rupee , he deserves nearly 1kg gold and more than 10 lakh
rupee along with a car because he is a government employee. Since then the mother in law,
cruelly harrases vismaya, but she tried to dismiss it, but this continued more than one and half
month, vismaya decided to raise a complaint to each every neighbours, Vismaya could not
tolerate these tortures anymore, she ran to her husband and told him about this, he supports
his mom and starts beating her cruelly, she becomes helpless. One day suddenly, he asks her
for 10 lakh rupee, slaps her and verbally abuses her, he wanted that money to buy a new car
which was launched on the same day so he could boast before his friends When he crossed
his limit, she blocked him and slapped him back, she asked him if needed a money bank then
why did he chose her? If you deserve more dowry, why didn't you ask before ? adding that
she told after marriage I'm your wife before that I'm a daughter of my parents they are my
best friends. She told his mom that his son didn't need a wife but a bank. She clearly puts
across her message stating not to think that she will be a Vismaya who hangs on the fan and
sacrifices her life for this kind of person and makes her parents cry, don't expect a Vismaya
anymore. Seeing your daughter divorced is far better than seeing your daughter dead.
Dowry :
In this short film we can see that a father is forcing his daughter to accept a proposal
which came from a good and high background even though they are from middle class they
don't have that much property and wealth to give much Dowry but her papa was okay to sell
all his property for her marriage . In the meantime she was in love with her childhood friend
and she told her love to her papa. He rejects it because he's not rich . But she dont want to
marry a rich guy by giving lots of Dowry. According to her concept a man should share his
Dreams , commitments , love , affections , lust and emotions equals but some guys need an
online money bank . She left the home and went along with him , later his dad realised that
money can't buy happiness and Dowry should not give it will destroy your girl's life.
Sinthanai Sei Manamae :
This short film starts with the conversation of two friends, one friend is going to get
married and another one is from the middle class background , many grooms will come and
see her with a price tag when they get to know she can't give this much of dowry then they

will lose their hope and leave home , these thing continuous for many months she lost interest
in marriage , one day she got a call from a guy who rejected her because of less dowry he
requested her to meet him once , They met each other he told he rethink many times and
understand that there is nothing wrong with you , he decided to marry a girl without asking
Dowry , his parents opposed this even after that he convinced them and gave green signal.
Even he's ready to take her res[ponsibilities and share her commitments . Actually there are
people who say no to dowry because women themselves are wealthy then what is the role of
Dowry.

In the quantitative method we conducted a survey and analysed Individuals view on how
short films portray dowry and its impact on the minds of the youth.
Responses of the individual who agreed or disagreed that short films related to dowry can
help create awareness among youth.
Participants who witnessed dowry related violence among their family, friends or in their
neighbourhood.

The state that highly deals with dowry related issues in South India.

Copy
According to the data collected through the survey we found 50% believed that the major
reason for dowry suicides in South India is because of 'dowry being a traditional practice',
21.9% believed that it is because we do not have enough awareness about the dowry act,
20.3% believed it is because of the dominating nature of men and 7.8% said it is due to
illiteracy.
91.6% of the individuals who participated in the survey and had watched films related to
dowry were ready to say no to dowry and steer away from practising it. Among 60
participants 39.1% would reject the marriage proposal if it involves dowry, 42.2% would not
allow their parents to accept or give dowry.
After watching the film 42.2% said that they got to know the struggles faced by women
because of dowry, 56.3% were ready to raise voice against dowry, the rest watched the film
just for entertainment purpose.
In the survey, 50% agreed that short films can influence the youth to steer away from dowry,
48.4% said that short film might have an impact on youth about dowry, 43.8% believed that
in these upcoming years short films will definitely influence more and more youth and have
an impact on their mindset, 40.6% said it may be possible, and 12.5% said it cannot be
predicted.
Visual representation of a concept is said to have more involvement in influencing the
audience, especially those that revolve around social issues like dowry,unlike the traditional
print media or written article,short film can reach the mass audience both literate and

illiterate, 45.3% agreed to this statement, 25% strongly agreed to it, 12.5% had neutral
opinion about it, whereas 15.6% strongly disagreed to it.

Duration Of The Study
The duration of the research titled "A STUDY ON THE PORTRAYAL OF THE DOWRY
SYSTEM IN SHORT FILMS" Is 2 months.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1. The short films that we took as our research sample were of only South Indian
languages.
2. In this research we selectively chosen only Tamil and Malayalam short films
3. Only four malayalam short film and one tamil short film under (2016 to 2022)
4. Its a mixed method of Qualitative and Quantitative research
5. The survey was conducted among the age group of 18 to 30 years people .

CONCLUSION
The survey conducted through google forms and short film analysis are
based on the objectives and research questionnaires . This analysis gave us the answers to our
questions and we could conclude that media which reflects in the form of short films
definitely created a huge impact on youngsters' mindset . The media influences the mind of
people and that is clearly shown in the survey of Quantitative analysis , majority of the
people prefers short film over than big screen movies , Here in short film we can save our
time and understand the point far better than reading article and so on , adding that many
people get awareness through these short film and 90% of youngsters are ready to say to
Dowry . Therefore here we conclude that through the Quantitative survey we can guarantee
that for the upcoming years 80% of the youngsters will show opposition against Dowry and
raise their voice against the Dowry violences .

REFERENCE
Pradhan, T. Moulick,J.& Sarkar, P. (2021). Women, Domestic Violence and The Role Of
Indian Electronic Media. European Journal of Molecular &Clinical Medicine, 8(2).1452
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://ejmcm.com/article_7
823_9f41cf081b4756fc0b644b32a52b639f.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiBtaiR6cT3AhVfSmwGH
ZadCg8QFnoECAUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1lGrjQ-E1Cz_BE4l0H0DQE
Jyoti. (2018). The Dowry Death. Power Publishers.
Wyatt, R. Masoon, N. (2011). Broken Mirrors. Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Roy, L, last updated: Dec 15 (2021) How Short Films are making a Boom during covid 19
pandemic. Outlook.
How Short Films are making a Boom during covid 19 pandemic

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