Why is Priya Varrier’s naughty wink a ‘national crush of India’

She came as a relief to the eyes, the eyes which have become burdened with watching the gruesome murders, lynching and the likes ‘live’; she came as a breath of fresh air in the stifling socio political environment on social media where your friends are defined by your ‘pro’ and ‘anti’ government stance; she came as the colour of a freshly lit sky of the dawn when even the matters of heart are tinged with a colour of politics. I had just smiled at the photo of this young actress winking playfully. ‘Wow! She does deserve the title written below – ‘national crush of India!’ was the thought that flashed in my mind watching the video for the first time.

Priya Varrier’s video, which went viral and is still being talked about with all the controversies and ‘hurt sentiments’ and a complaint filed against the film’s director (from which the video has been taken and posted on line), is a happy video, full of young energy and making all of us (well, almost all of us) nostalgic about our own teenage crush.

Her unapologetic naughty wink has sent most of the young boys into a tizzy, enthralled the middle-aged and filled the older ones with some positivity (which is so much needed in these times of hatred and economic confusion).

Barring a complaint against the filmmaker over the lyrics of the song in the film 'Oru Adaar Love' featuring the young actress, the video is being liked by one and all. It is a good sign. The unapologetic ‘bindas’ and innocent sexuality of a young woman is being appreciated in this society where girls of all age are rampantly raped and murdered in womb or in the name of honour/caste/religion.

And we better accept it. Because this is the young India, this is our future generation, hopefully not entangled in the contradictions of modernity and conservatism, not embarrassed about its sexuality.

Though there is a flurry of the images and video on social media which typecast various feelings- of nationalism, of patriotism, of love and religious faith- compelling you to believe that this is the way one should feel and this video too may fall in that category, yet there is a freshness and novelty attached to it which at the same time brings in nostalgia about the innocence of adolescent love. (Remember Chintan’s adulation for Insiya in Secret Superstar? That was the first time a Hindi film talked about teenage crush in such a realistic and beautiful way without typecasting it as ‘ideal love’).

Priya Varrier’s wink may be a new image of a young woman’s unashamed sexuality flooding the Indian cyber space, changing the stereotype cultural images of shyness as inherent to feminine sexuality. But it is positive in the sense that the image is exerting to forge a new impression.

And our cultural history is a witness to the fact that whenever a woman has exerted on her identity and emotions freely, it has always been appreciated, be it Amrapali, Meena Kumari, Madhubala or let’s say, Deepika Padukone in present times.

It is although unfortunate that we are still living in an environment where a woman’s frank naughty and youthful expression of sexuality becomes such a sensation no matter how beautiful and fascinating it is.