The loosu ponnu () is a stock character predominantly in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

and frequently in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

, a girl who is portrayed as attractive but naïve and unintelligent. It is regarded as the equivalent of the

Manic Pixie Dream Girl A Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a stock character type in films. Film critic Nathan Rabin, who coined the term after observing Kirsten Dunst's character in '' Elizabethtown'' (2005), said that the MPDG "exists solely in the fevered imaginatio ...

and

dumb blonde Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the " blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes are stereotyped as more desirable, but less intelligent than brunettes. There are many blo ...

stereotypes in the United States. The loosu ponnu trope became increasingly popular in 1990s Tamil cinema when the masculinity of the hero became severely overblown. It has since received criticism for being

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...

ic and regressive.

History and terminology

According to critic

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu' ...

, the loosu ponnu trope emerged in an era where Tamil filmmakers began casting North Indian women, who did not know Tamil, in leading roles; due to their lip syncing not being perfect (their lines would be dubbed over by others), wild gesticulation and their emotional reactions seeming unusual, "all of this ended up making them look like mad people".

Characteristics

Loosu ponnus are typically depicted as being bubbly, naïve, childish, lacking professional ambition, having easily detachable ties with their families, and showing unquestioning devotion to heroic males once they fall in love with them. They are also depicted as angelic, in need of constant rescuing, and incapable of doing even simple things in life. Very often, their "cuteness" is directly proportional to how insane their actions may seem to viewers.

Examples

Known loosu ponnu characters in Tamil films are Anjali ( Amala) from ''

Agni Natchathiram ''Agni Natchathiram'' () is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language masala film that was written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Prabhu, Karthik, Amala and newcomer Nirosha, with Vijayakumar, Jayachitra, Sumithra, Tara, S. N. Lakshmi and ...

'' (1988), Mythili (

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

) in '' Manmadhan'' (2004), Suji and Hema (

Meera Jasmine Jasmine Mary Joseph, known professionally as Meera Jasmine, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films. Meera Jasmine won the National Film Award for Best Actress in 2004 for her role in ...

) in ''

Pudhiya Geethai ''Pudhiya Geethai'' ( New Gita) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by newcomer K. P. Jagan. The film stars Vijay in the main lead role with Meera Jasmine and Ameesha Patel in the female lead roles. Kalabhavan Mani ...

'' (2003) and '' Sandakozhi'' (2005) respectively, Haritha ( Nayanthara) in '' Kalvanin Kadhali'' (2006), Hasini ( Genelia D'Souza) in '' Santosh Subramaniam'' (2008), Anitha (

Taapsee Pannu Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards. After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film ' ...

) in '' Arrambam'' (2013), Chitra Devipriya ( Kajal Aggarwal) in ''

All in All Azhagu Raja ''All in All Azhagu Raja'' () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by M. Rajesh. Karthi in dual lead roles with, Kajal Aggarwal and Santhanam in the supporting roles. It marks the second collaboration betw ...

'' (2013), Keerthana ( Nazriya) in '' Raja Rani (2013 film)'', Yazhini ( Hansika Motwani) in ''

Maan Karate ''Maan Karate'' () is a 2014 Tamil-language sports comedy film written and directed by Krish Thirukumaran. The film was written and co-produced by AR Murugadoss and produced by P. Madhan under banner of Escape Artists Motion Pictures. It s ...

'' (2014), Shakila (

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) in ''

10 Endrathukulla ''10 Endrathukulla'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language road action comedy film written and directed by Vijay Milton and produced by A. R. Murugadoss under the banner A. R. Murugadoss Productions and Fox Star Studios. The film stars Vikram and ...

'' (2015), Sowmya (Aggarwal) in '' Paayum Puli'' (2015), Priya (Motwani) in ''

Uyire Uyire ''Uyire Uyire'' () is a 2016 Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by A. Rajasekhar and produced by veteran actress Jaya Prada and former politician Amar Singh. The film, a remake of Vikram Kumar's 2012 Telugu film ''Ishq'', stars Jaya Pra ...

'' (2016), Aarathu Aanandhi (

Sai Pallavi Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan (born 9 May 1992), known by her stage name Sai Pallavi, is an Indian actress and dancer who works in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam cinema. She has won several awards including four Filmfare Awards South, and was ...

) in ''

Maari 2 ''Maari 2'' is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by Balaji Mohan. It is a sequel to his 2015 film '' Maari''. Dhanush, besides producing the film under his company Wunderbar Films, also stars as the title c ...

'' (2018), Vandhana (

Sayyeshaa Sayyeshaa Saigal (born 12 August 1997), known mononymously as Sayyeshaa, is an Indian actress and dancer who primarily appears in Tamil-language films. After working in a Telugu film ''Akhil'' (2015), she made her Hindi debut in Ajay Devgn's '' ...

) in ''

Ghajinikanth ''Ghajinikanth'' is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Santhosh P. Jayakumar and produced by K.E.Gnanavel Raja. The movie stars Arya and Sayyeshaa in the lead roles. It is a remake of the 2015 Telugu fil ...

'' (2018), and Padmini (

Priyanka Arul Mohan Priyanka Arul Mohan also known as Priyanka Mohan (born 20 November 1994) is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu films. She made her acting debut with 2019 Kannada film '' Ondh Kathe Hella'', and Telugu debut with '' Nan ...

) in ''

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'' (2021).

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has played such characters in films like ''

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'' (2016) and ''

Thodari ''Thodari'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action-romance film co produced, written and directed by Prabhu Solomon. It stars Dhanush and Keerthy Suresh, with D. Imman composing the film's music. Set on an express train, ''Thodari'' follows ...

'' (2016).

Other languages

Besides Tamil films, loosu ponnu characters were also noted in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

films (known as 'pichi pilla') with Shalini (

Rakul Preet Singh Rakul Preet Singh (born 10 October 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. She made her acting debut with the Kannada film '' Gilli'' (2009). She has won several awards including a SIIMA Award with ...

) in ''

Spyder The SPYDER ("Surface-to-air Python and Derby") is an Israeli short and medium range mobile air defence system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with assistance from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Rafael is the prime contractor a ...

'' (2017), Sukumari (Keerthy Suresh) and Suryakantham (

Anu Emmanuel Anu Emmanuel (; born 28 March 1996) is an Indian actress born in the United States who appears in Telugu films alongside a few Tamil films. She debuted as a heroine in the 2016 Malayalam film '' Action Hero Biju''. She made her Telugu debut wi ...

) in ''

Agnyaathavaasi ''Agnyaathavaasi'' () is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas. The film stars Pawan Kalyan, Keerthy Suresh, Anu Emmanuel, and Aadhi Pinisetty. The film began its principal photography in A ...

'' (2018), and Samskruthi ( Rashmika Mandanna) in '' Sarileru Neekevvaru'' (2020). Genelia D' Souza has played such characters in films like ''

Bommarillu ''Bommarillu'' () () is a 2006 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Bhaskar in his directorial debut, and produced by Dil Raju. The film stars Siddharth, Genelia, Prakash Raj and Jayasudha. The film primarily ...

'' (2006) and ''

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'' (2010).

Criticism

The loosu ponnu trope has received wide criticism for being misogynistic and regressive. Actress Madonna Sebastian has expressed her dislike for it, saying, "I think it is disrespectful and when people endorse it, even heroines, it becomes a dangerous trend."

Aishwarya Rajesh Aishwarya Rajesh (born 10 January 1990) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Tamil films, alongside Telugu and Malayalam films. She is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards, one Filmfare Award South and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. Ai ...

has consciously avoided playing such roles, citing her preference for "sensible" roles.

References

{{Stock characters Depictions of women in film Female stock characters Pejorative terms for women Tamil cinema Telugu cinema

History and terminology

Characteristics

Examples

Other languages

Criticism

See also

References