Author: Anika K
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Devakoothu: How women are challenging norms in a male-dominated art form
Amid the wailing sounds of children crying, the shrill kuzhal being played, and the rumbling sound of a chenda, the loud footsteps echo. As the crowd gathers at the Koolom Thayakavu temple in anticipation, a red figure makes her way through the swarm. While she performs in front of the people, Ambujakshi looks majestic; the performance is divine. She is no longer herself; Valliamma, the goddess, has taken over.
In the artistically rich state of Kerala, Theyyam is performed predominantly in the North Malabar region. Although Theyyam has been traditionally practised by men since ancient times, there exists one form which is performed solely by women. Devakoothu , performed in the Thekkumbad Kulom temple in the district of Kannur, is based on a myth about a goddess who got lost in the island.
Due to a lack of records, the exact period during which the art was developed is unknown, but according to the people, it is believed to be centuries old.
Legend has it that devakoothu is rooted in a tale that tells the story of injustice towards a goddess. According to the tale, once, while a group of devathas (goddesses) were walking through devalokam (heaven), they came across an island on earth filled with intoxicating flowers. While the goddesses were making their way through the creepers in search of the flowers, they got lost. All goddesses except one made it out. The trapped godess, who was saved by a villager, prayed to Narada, who took the deity to Koolom. Even after returning to devalokam, her fond experiences on Earth stayed with her. Once in every two years, in the month of Dhanu, she visits the island to meet and bless the people.
Among the few women who choose to practice Devakoothu, Ambujakshi of Malayanvalappi is a woman who holds a special place to the people of Thekkumbad. She started performing at the age of 45, after Kattuparambil Lakshmiyamma, who performed the art for almost fourteen years, decided to retire from the stage. Ambujakshi, who was a sweeper at the Post Office, took on the mantle and performed for the first time in 2012. She had to observe a 41-day penance, during which she would wake up early, recite the mantras to evoke the god and practise for the performance. Currently, MV Ambujakshi is the only woman who is practicing the art form.
Devakoothu is not merely a spiritual form of expression. Being the only form of theyyam performed by women out of the 456 forms that exists, Devakoothu breaks barriers and challenges the norms set by theyyam itself. The presence of women in male-dominated art forms has been showing a shift in the recent times, and this specific form of art challenges the sanctimony of certain art forms. Women like Ambujakshi being in the forefront, reclaiming their places in the cultural forms, gives a reminder that women have also been an integral part of it and will continue to be.
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Rainbow Washing or Allyship: Brands and Their Campaigns During Pride Month
Every year, the month of June is marked by the colourful embrace of the queer community that celebrates how far the LGBTQ+ community has come. This year marked the 55th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall uprising was a turning point for the Gay Liberation Movement, which was prominent throughout the late 1960s.
In a contemporary context, Pride Month is celebrated through pride parades that promote inclusivity, donations and volunteering while protesting against inequalities. Apart from the members of the community celebrating, even other members and the public participate in such parades. This shows the support and brotherhood that they have for their fellow society members. Nowadays even brands have started showing support during this month through different campaigns, pride-special events, products and much more. Brands have faced major criticism for following the brand and not understanding the cause behind it or rather not committing to it.
Recently, with the increase in commodifying any sort of awareness campaign, brands have hopped on the bandwagon to commercialize Pride Month by coming up with their own campaigns and merchandise. These initiatives might look like genuine efforts to show support but a lot of brands have been taking part in ‘rainbow washing’ or capitalising off of queer communities by showing apparent support to them while actually not providing substantial support.
Some famous brands were under fire for alleged ‘rainbow-washing’. An example of this is the pride sandwich that was released by Marks and Spencer, called LGBT; “Lettuce, Guac, Bacon & Tomato”. They were criticised for reducing the entire community and their struggles into a basic sandwich.
As a response to backlash from conservative groups faced by companies for supporting the LGBTQ+ community, this Pride Month, the number of brands showing outward support towards the community has decreased. This can be observed in the case study of the American retail corporation Target as well as the beer brand Budlight. The aforementioned companies, due to a backlash from conservative groups, were forced to keep a low profile this June. Budlight, a top beer brand, faced backlash following their collaboration with a transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The situation became a focal point when they started gaining criticism even from Pride supporters when it came to light that the beer brand donates huge amounts to conservative lawmakers who are not supportive of the community.
Although a lot of brands faced criticism for slacktivism (supporting a political or social cause by putting in minimal effort without actual commitment), there are a number of brands that have been promoting the community with true spirit.
Accenture has been going over and beyond to support the community and provide a safe space for them within the working environment. The company has its own ‘Pride Means More’ campaign, which aims at ensuring an inclusive workspace for all employees.
The Lego Group, a toy company, launched the ‘A-Z of Awesome’ campaign which aimed at families to have meaningful conversations about different identities. The company instead of painting the existing products with rainbow colours introduced a whole new product. This campaign was really appreciated and liked by the public and the LGBTQ+ community.
Hindustan Zinc Limited also took a step towards inclusivity and has introduced a policy that will provide financial support to transgender employees. It was launched in association with the company’s Pride Month celebrations. They had interviewed their employees, where their employees were sharing their experience of having such a supportive and inclusive work space regardless of their gender and identity.
In summary, Pride Month serves as a major annual observance for the LGBTQ+ community, celebrating milestones like the Stonewall uprising while fostering inclusivity and awareness. However, along with genuine efforts to support and celebrate, there always exists a notable trend of superficial gestures and commercial exploitation. The challenges faced by companies navigating these waters underscore the importance of authenticity and sustained commitment in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. The main focus should remain on meaningful actions that contribute positively to the community’s progress and well-being and not for a brand’s own welfare
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Bollywood’s Dearth of Fresh Ideas: Is it Paving the Way for OTT Content?
Bollywood, one of the largest film industries in India and worldwide, has been struggling since the pandemic and has not had a huge comeback post that. At the beginning of COVID, it could have been owed to the theatres not functioning fully-fledged. However, even with complete recovery, the movies have failed to attain the same level of success. Even though there were some hit films last year, 2024 has failed to produce any blockbusters, with almost all films failing to hit the mark.
Does the sustenance of the industry actually depend upon recycling content and not bringing anything fresh to the table?
While exploring the motion pictures released in the past twenty years, a certain trend can be noticed in the way a blockbuster will lead to a number of other movies which have similar plots with nothing more than an illusion of uniqueness. This takes the form of either cliched movies, which are very generic in nature and lack original thought, or films, which use the same template over and over until the audience becomes bored with it.
An example of the former would be the sort of male-centric ‘hero’ movies, which are heavily focused on action sequences to showcase the lead’s masculinity, paired up with a couple of item songs and a female character who could be easily replaced by an inanimate object. Although the interest shown by audiences towards such content has considerably decreased, the conception hasn’t completely gone out of existence. The plethora of films, such as the ‘Race’ franchise, the ‘Baaghi’ series and ‘Animal’, makes it difficult to even watch any movie with such cliched plot lines without feeling a sense of deja vu.
When it comes to the latter trend, it is comparatively a newer one, which could be noticed since the early 2010s, primarily when filmmakers realised that movies related to sports are a treat to watch for an Indian audience. This led to the abundance of sports-centric material in the Indian film industry, which all follow the same formula where the protagonist has to overcome hurdles to become a sportsperson, and the films end with the main lead winning an exceptional award in their field. Even though movies like ‘MS Dhoni – The Untold Story’, ‘Sultan’, ‘Gold’ have been well received by the audience, they have saturated the genre to the point where newer sports movies and biopics trying to apply the same recipe such as ‘Maidaan’ and ‘Ghoomar’ haven’t received that level of appreciation and have failed at the box office.
Bollywood’s tendency to remake movies (that did well in the theatres) from other languages has sustained for decades now. From the so-called classic movies such as ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and ‘Hera Pheri’ to much newer hits such as ‘Drishyam’ and ‘Mili ‘, are all remakes of Malayalam films. Though taking inspiration from pictures on different celluloid is not essentially a bad thing, an excess of it showcases a lack of new ideas.
Looking through these lenses, it might seem like Bollywood is on a decline. However, the movies that are being released on OTT platforms tell a different story. Since the pandemic forced cinema halls to shut down, the OTT platforms have had a massive boost, with an increasing number of people consuming media through such platforms.
This leads to the argument that more and more people are choosing to entertain themselves through content showcased online not just because of convenience but also because of its originality and niche storytelling. A recent example would be the film, ‘Laapata Ladies’, which has been a huge success on Netflix. It is one of those stories which makes you wonder if it would have received the same amount of viewership had it been released only on the big screen.
Films like these help with the belief that there is hope for new visuals aesthetically, intellectually and emotionally.
Although movies with minimal plots are coming to the theatres, a shift can be noticed in the way audiences have been reacting to them. With the rise of pictures on OTT platforms, the standard of movies has also seen a rise, which leads to people expecting more from filmmakers than the bare minimum.
The chief factor owing to the lack of new stories in the mainstream films, in comparison to the online platforms, is the fear of the movies being a box office failure. While OTT platforms can afford to take a risk by exploring fresh ideas with a low budget and casting actors who aren’t mainstream, it isn’t the same for commercial films which depend solely upon doing well at the box office market. Such commercial movies with prominent actors and a huge budget are at a risk of failure, and hence have to adhere to ideas that apparently appeal to a larger audience rather than a niche group.
However, the shift that can be observed in the perception of the industry by the Indian audience due to the influential streaming services, can be the saving grace that Bollywood has been yearning for. Although it will take time for the industry to completely break away from the existing clutches of conventional storytelling, there is scope for improvement.
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Hindenburg Research Calls it Quits: The firm that shook financial empires leaves the arena
As 2025 started with a flurry of events, it also marked the end of an era. Amid controversies, the US-based short-selling firm, Hindenburg Research, which attracted worldwide interest due to its short-selling strategies, and more importantly, the reports that led to the loss of billions of dollars for the India-based Adani group, announced its decision to cease operations on 16 January 2025. The company that had charged more than 100 individuals through their work has decided to mark an end to its run.
Founded by Nathan Anderson in 2017, Hindenburg Research was an investment research firm that exposed corporate fraud and financial scams. The short-selling stock firm grew in prominence in India and made international news after it published a report alleging that the Adani Group was involved in financial malpractices. The 30,000-word report titled ‘Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History’ released in January 2023, caused international waves as it exposed the company of being involved in numerous breach of ethics, such as financial irregularities, stock manipulation, improper tax havens and high levels of debt within the company.
In a personal note, Nate Anderson shared that they had been planning to shut down since 2024 and that there was no specific reason behind the decision. Although he cited completing all his goals as one of the reasons that led to the decision to shut down, he also mentioned how it is time for him to move on. “I now view Hindenburg as a chapter in my life, not a central thing that defines me,” he stated in the note.
Anderson, with minimal capital, no background in finance, and three lawsuits up his sleeve, did not have an easy road to success. He went into detail about how the journey has also been intense and, at times, all-encompassing. The founder considers his journey to building the firm “nothing less than a dream.”
The Adani saga that the Hindenburg was involved in was nothing short of a spectacle that led to Gautam Adani losing the title of Asia’s richest man, which resulted in investigations for a long time. Although the company denied all allegations, it still caused a massive sellout, wiping almost $150 billion from its stock value. Hindenburg didn’t stop at this and went on to slam allegations against the SEBI group, accusing the SEBI chief of having links to offshore hedge funds, which are allegedly linked to the multi-billion-dollar Adani Group.
While they shook financial empires in India after the report, Hindenburg gained global attention much earlier in 2020 after they were involved in a high-profile case where they accused Nikola, an electric truck maker owned by Trevor Milton, of misleading investors about the technology they used.
While the company has decided to cease operations and is planning on exiting, they’re far away from leaving the spotlight. According to some documents filed in a court case in Ontario, Anderson has been under scrutiny for alleged connections to hedge funds in preparing reports that targeted companies. According to the Market Frauds Portal, there has been an alleged collaboration between Hindenburg and Hanson funds in preparing reports. Due to a lack of disclosure about such a collaboration, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could charge them with securities fraud.
As the short-selling firm exits the scene, its legacy will remain engraved in controversies.
