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Research Paper | English Language and Literature | Volume 15 Issue 4, April 2026 | Pages: 1348 - 1349 | India
The Interconnection of Gender and Nature in Eko (2025): An Ecofeminist Reading of Surveillance, Space, and Resistance in Malayalam Cinema
Abstract: This article develops an ecofeminist interpretation of the Malayalam film Eko (2025), directed by Dinjith Ayyathan, and places it within broader scholarly discussions on gender, ecology, and visual culture in Indian cinema. Although the film initially appears to be a psychological mystery centred on the disappearance of Kuriachan, it gradually unfolds as a critique of patriarchal systems that regulate both women's bodies and ecological spaces. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of Vandana Shiva, Maria Mies, and Carol J. Adams, the study examines how narrative design, spatial organisation, and animal symbolism collectively construct "protection" as a subtle technology of control. Rather than treating Eko as an isolated text, the paper situates it within Malayalam cinema's recurring tendency to associate female agency with trauma. In contrast, Eko reimagines resistance as emerging through ecological alignment rather than victimhood. The study argues that the film reworks the familiar "female avenger" narrative by shifting violence from an emotional reaction to a structurally embedded form of resistance. This reading contributes to ongoing debates in film and cultural studies on gendered power relations and environmental imagination.
Keywords: Ecofeminism, Malayalam Cinema, Gendered Space, Surveillance, Female Agency, Environmental Humanities, Visual Culture
How to Cite?: Megha K V, "The Interconnection of Gender and Nature in Eko (2025): An Ecofeminist Reading of Surveillance, Space, and Resistance in Malayalam Cinema", Volume 15 Issue 4, April 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1348-1349, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26416221339, DOI: https://dx.dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26416221339