Mardistan Report

Report on Documentary Film Mardistan
(Macholand)
By- Tejaswita Kaushal
B.Arch , 4th Year
Chitkara University
Mardistan (Macholand) is a commentative scrutiny on the

schooling that our society imparts to the men and women about
their efficacy, existence and norms of growing up. This has been
precisely articulated by a noted Malayali feminist writer and
professor of political thought, Nivedeta Das Menon by saying;
When you grow up to become a man, you learn that there are
certain rewards you get if you follow the rules... Learning to
become a women is different, you learn that if you dont follow
the rules you will be punished... If you follow the rules you can
survive, whereas with men when you learn to play the game with
rules, actually the results are quite phenomenal
The launching scenes of Mardistan reveals the films resolution
with the introduction of writer Amandeep Sandhu as he says,
While growing up, I realised there were certain kinds of men I
would not like to become. I would not like to become an uncle of
mine who would beat my mother up. I would not like to become
seniors of mine who would define themselves by sodomising their
juniors, I would not like to pull a gun on somebody because I have
had a gun pulled on me.
Mardistan examines the customs and conversations surrounding
masculinity in Punjab. The film interviews four men from different
generations and backgrounds. The soliloquy of four men about
their perception and idea of masculinity and how they negotiate
conservative patriarchy in their everyday lives. The film also
focuses on issues of critical importance like son preference,
sexual violence and homophobia in a nation increasingly defined
by social inequalities. Nivedita Menon's feminist perspective is
brought in from time to time, to provide a context for these men's

stories.
As author Amandeep Sandhu ( WRITE ABOUT SANDHUS WORKS)
briefly mentions at one point, Punjab has had strong but
complicated notions of masculinity, thanks to entrenched
patriarchy and the region's long martial heritage that has
manifested itself in a variety of ways, ranging from army
enlistment to terrorism.
Gurpreet Singh, a modeler and designer at a renowned university
in Punjab, holds pride in being the father of twin girls and
harbours no son preference. Singhs gestures are quite an oddity
in the otherwise son craving Punjabi tribe. He aspires his
daughters to grow up freely and not be cloistered under any
societal pressures. Recalling how his parents favoured him over
his sisters he declares that he doesnt want a boy. He ruptures the
patriarchal hypothesis of manhood in his real life and reclaims it
to be his strength in terms of family.
The critical study of masculinity wouldnt be complete without the
experience of Dhananjay, a social activist and as he unflinchingly
accepts himself being gay and disregards the notions of
masculinity, When I told my wife I was gay, she replied, I dont
need my husband to be manly, I need him to be a kind human
being, he says. As he narrates this account the camera focuses
on the picture of a god in the room, leaving the label of pati
parmeshwar hanging unsaid over the scene.
A college student named Tarun Dhamija is seen trying to
acclimatize with the established metropolitan culture of the new
city as he moves from a small town to study architecture in
Chandigarh. He is seen tackling the pressures set out like
traditions by the peer and the society.
He also narrates that modern women are unfathomable. They'll
hang out with you for a while and then, out of the blue, they'll
suddenly lose interest, Tarun complains. When you ask them why
they're toying with your feelings, they'll say something like "You're
so boring." "It's only after listening to the latest hit song from
rappers like Honey Singh that we realise what girls today really
want," says Tarun.
Tarun
introspective side of him as a person
Unmitigatedly, Mardistan achieves to move and invoke thought about the

traditional dominance of male on the
will open up a conversation about male-on-male sexual violence and rape, which is a very
common phenomenon in Indian society - See more at: http://newsliner.in/news/What-Does-ItMean-To-Be-A-Man-In-India-Mardistan-Director-Harjant-Gill-Answers1442773800#sthash.UPWDDCGX.dpuf
As a society, if we want to address the issue of rape and sexual assault against individuals of
any gender, we must acknowledge that men can and often are also victims of sexual
violence and rape. - See more at: http://newsliner.in/news/What-Does-It-Mean-To-Be-A-ManIn-India-Mardistan-Director-Harjant-Gill-Answers-1442773800#sthash.UPWDDCGX.dpuf

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Mardistan Report

Uploaded by

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Report on Documentary Film Mardistan

Mardistan (Macholand) is a commentative scrutiny on the

brought in from time to time, to provide a context for these men's

introspective side of him as a person

Unmitigatedly, Mardistan achieves to move and invoke thought about the

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