IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section A

Abstract

J Tillu (2022, Vimal Krishna)’s eponymous hero is played by the writer himself. This Telugu (regional language in India) film is a fast-paced comedy replete with the depiction of the city space of Hyderabad, one of the fastest-growing metropolitan cities in South India. This film falls loosely under the neo-noir genre with a mix of comedy and thriller genres and can be termed a neo-noir comedy thriller. The femme fatale of the noir films makes a strong appearance in this film but seemingly subverts (to an extent) and goes beyond her symbolic old tropes of seduction and danger. The traditional femme fatale is depicted as mysterious and scheming, which challenges the patriarchal norms of a good woman. In this paper, using the film DJ Tillu, I analyse the rendering of Radhika (played by Neha Shetty) as a femme fatale who is a metaphor for neoliberal urban realities in two parts. First, I will examine the deliberate cinematic construction of the femme fatale shaped by the cultural and economic logic of the neoliberal urban setting. Second, I will explore the perceived agency (economic, social, and sexual) available in the city for the archetype of femme fatale as she navigates the city and the power dynamics of gender. Through this analysis, I will answer the following research questions: 1) How does DJ Tillu portray the femme fatale in a neoliberal urban society, and does it critique or reinforce the commodification of femininity? 2) How do the narrative structure and visual style of DJ Tillu shape the femme fatale’s depiction, and what does this reveal about power, gender, and agency in neoliberal contexts?