The definition of film-viewing has changed a lot in the age of OTT. Films have moved from the big screen to the small screen medium or ‘content’, and the viewing experience has become more personal. The 80-minute ‘Monogami’ is therefore not a ‘larger than life’ or extra-than-everyday experience, but a little more intimate. We often see this happening around us, sometimes we smile, sometimes we sneer, sometimes we repress. But what I don’t do is try to understand the social oppression, deviance, hatred and pain behind it. A successful man in his forties—who is a husband and father—is reeling in a web of desire and guilt. This ‘desire’ is for a prostitute. In the few scenes and dialogues of the film ‘Manogami’, who’s position in the power structure is established. The story begins with the subordinate female worker becoming mature. A bright, intelligent, beautiful young woman, this worker reveals her forty-year-old boss as her ‘idol’. Then suddenly the boss makes a move that breaks the barrier of his determination and turns the dice. After that, the woman came up in the power structure.
There is a lot of talk about empowering women in a patriarchal system, but those paths are still twisted. Women have to present themselves in an attractive, but ‘elegant’ manner at work, not to break the circle of male authority, to move within the boundaries set by men. When the domineering man reveals his vulnerability in front of that woman, breaking down his masculine solemnity and firmness and bursting into tears, he becomes attractive. The woman felt a different closeness to him after going beyond a light flirtation. He slowly started to enjoy the fun of establishing his dominance. Here Jeffer has been able to highlight the issue of ‘Empowered Millennial’. And through jokes and humor Farooqui has pointed out the form of misogyny rooted in our collective unconscious. The unemployed young man’s family is supported by his wife, who also takes care of the children. After winning so much in life’s struggle, the man seeks excitement in a new love game. However, his desire to prove himself as a ‘good man’ is also strong. Along with this, Farooqui skillfully explains that things like not wearing small clothes, love with more than one person, pulling the reins in a relationship or practicing individuality are viewed with crooked eyes in ‘Manogami’. In front of the husband’s deviation and the storm of excuses, the illusion of the wife’s world becomes strong. Family means not only love or two people being together, but the investment of many days of memories, love and pain.
