Since the December 2012 Delhi gangrape, which fixed the media spotlight firmly on India’s long-running feminist movement, many autorickshaws in the city have taken to carrying stickers bearing the words “This auto respects women”. It is the most tragic and ironic testament to how dangerous this city is for 50 percent of its population and how autowallahs in particular have been known to harass female passengers

A similar irony marks director Ajai Vasudev’s Malayalam film that is in theatres this week. Masterpiece’s leading man, college professor Edward Livingston played by Mammootty, chants a mantra throughout his time on screen. “I respect women,” he says again and again and then again, clearly unconvinced by and uncommitted to his own declaration. The character's actions suggest that the megastar has taken on this catchphrase to mock those who have slammed him over the years for the horrendously misogynistic films he has chosen to act in, including last year’s Kasaba that earned him a notice from Kerala's Women’s Commission. His insincerity is underlined by the scorn and condescension with which he dispenses these words each time he wishes to put a woman in her place, in a film that has been made with the evident purpose of celebrating aggressive masculinity and treating women lightly.