Female Gaze in Anjali Menon's Movies Bangalore Days and Koodae: An Analysis

After the term "male gaze" was coined by Laura Mulvey in 1975, the term attained critical attention as a fascinating point for film analysis. In response to Mulvey's theory, the feminist critics appropriated the alternative term "female gaze" to distinguish the female spectator, character or director of an artwork; more than an emphasis on gender, it is an issue of representing women as subjects having agency. It is significant because it introduces more diverse voices that are often overlooked in film analysis. In modern real life, one does not see a woman always seeking a man's help to keep her stand. They are far stronger than what is portrayed in the movies. Anjali Menon, the famous Malayalam film director and screenwriter, has tried to bring neutrality between the genders in her films. This paper aims to discuss the search forthe female gaze in Anjali Menon's movies Bangalore Days (2014) and Koodae (2018). With a view to understanding its social and cultural implications.