Decentring the Male Gaze: Gendered Sovereignty and the Commodity of Gold in Ponman

Male Gaze Theory, introduced by Laura Mulvey in her seminal 1975 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, remains a foundational concept in feminist film theory. Mulvey argues that mainstream cinema is structured around a heterosexual male perspective that positions women as objects of visual pleasure rather than as autonomous subjects. Through cinematic techniques such as camera framing, narrative alignment, and visual composition, women are frequently rendered passive, while men occupy active, controlling roles within the diegesis. This paper applies Male Gaze Theory to Ponman, a Malayalam-language dark comedy thriller directed by Jothish Shankar. The film narrates the story of P P Ajesh, a gold dealer who lends jewellery to families for weddings with the expectation of monetary return and social reciprocity. By examining the film’s narrative structure, character positioning, and visual strategies, this study investigates how female characters, particularly the bride are represented and whether they are framed primarily through a male-centred perspective. The study explores how the bride’s value becomes symbolically and materially linked to gold, positioning her within a system of exchange that reflects broader patriarchal economies. While the narrative foregrounds male agency and authority, the film may simultaneously function as a critique of these very structures. Thus, rather than merely reinforcing patriarchal ideology, Ponman potentially destabilizes it by exposing the commodification of women within marriage transactions. Applying Mulvey’s framework allows for a deeper understanding of how gender, power, and materiality intersect within the film. This study argues that Ponman is not only a thriller or dark comedy but also a text that reflects and possibly interrogates the gendered power dynamics embedded in contemporary society.