Subverting Androcentrism and Voicing the Silenced in Kavita Kane's The Lanka's Princess

Abstract

The retelecast of Ramayana is presumed to have garnered the record as one of the most viewed television series with about 7.7 million viewers worldwide. Mythologies in India are closely intertwined with the socio-cultural aspects of the people, dictating the way the society functions. Such a massive reception of the mythsafter years of their origin only reiteratesthe significance and influence of mythologies even today. The retelling of mythologies is not a current phenomenon, as evident in the presence of the different versionsof Ramayana and Mahabharata.From films, dramas to television series, the two narratives have provided the blueprint for artists from all fields to explore and re-imagine them.The most significant change, however, occurred in recent times with the emergence of the often marginalized section revisiting the two grand narratives, the most prominent being Feminists and Dalits, and give space tothe often marginalized characters that are assigned the role of the 'other.' Writing and Reading are often considered political. The meaning-making process and what is being told or what is omitted is governed by the hegemonic control of the one in power. Mythology is typically considered as the avenuefor Men. Women represented in the epics hardly play a significant role. The omission of the voice of the women like Supernekha, Draupadi, Mandodari, Sita, Urmillafrom the grand narratives becomes all the more vivid as they representthe voice of the sidelined or marginalized. The right to form history belongs to the one ruling. In this case, it is the patriarchal setup that allows only for the androcentric viewpoint in the process relegating all the other possible views. In this vein, using an overarching lens of Feminism, the paperattempts to see Kavita Kane's The Lanka's Princess, from the viewpoint of the often voicelesscharacters to dismantle the binary structureand subvert Androcentrism.