The film Anora, as it opens, takes viewers for an unbridled voyeurism as a striptease bar is open where topless girls split their legs on silhouettes. Topless girls now are the new norm. Frontal nudity is the new discourse. Anora is recipient of five Oscar Awards 2025, which includes Best Picture. Sean Baker, its Director, won four Oscars for a single film, which is an Academy record. The film, however, delves on the age old paradox, which involves a young prostitute (sic) from US, played by Anora aka Ani (Mikey Madison) and a son of a Russian oligarch Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn). Madison won Best Actress award.
The film portrays our society, which is at the best at what is called development i.e. cars, luxuries, big buildings (if at all it is development?) while human values, as always are to remain static on the lowest ebb! Uninterrupted from time immemorial to the time unknown. The issue of prostitution has been dealt with élan, but no where there is any visible light at the end of the tunnel? Prostitution, as a profession, is as old as human civilization. But, the issues involved in it, as ever, have remained unresolved. No matter how much vocabulary is exhausted on calling prostitutes for their job equity as sex-workers etc, sanctioned by law over legalized sex etc, by all the purported egalitarian laws, across the globe, yet, perhaps never can the issue of a prostitute getting assimilated, getting respect, in any society will ever happen?
Prostitutes are part of the system yet out of the system. A man who sleeps with multiple women is called a macho, and a woman who does it is called a slut. The man benefits out of it and then loathes the same woman. Why? The simple fact is that the world is run by men, never denying the fact that it is women who beget men. The terrible debate of patriarchy, misogyny, feminism etc all get subsumed in the cardinal fact that the eternal doctrine is that forever a prostitute will desire respect, even if tied into nuptial knot, yet respect will always elude her. This is unanimous in every society, from times immemorial to the turn of this millennium. Anora at best is woven around the same tropes and which obviously also ended in the same soup.
For sex-hungry and perverts in the world, are available striptease shows and for a 21 year old Ivan it can understandably be natural, to obviously get hooked to 23 year old Ani. He preferred someone who knew Russian. Ani, whose grandmother (not grandfather) was a Russian, therefore, fitted into the frame. She later was very averse to be called a hooker, a whore or a prostitute, which in fact she could never throw-off. For the first 37 minutes of the 2 hours 15 minute film, has been a high voltage sex. Only torrential sex could bind them. In bar, in bed, sofa or bathroom et all they f*cked like rabbits. It was nauseatic to listen to the word f*uck, thousands of times, in its verb, adverb, or in the form of noun. Even in courts, this made the judge to censure it.
Ani was paid handsomely by Ivan who splurged his father’s money, lavished in his house and stuffed dollars in Ani’s thongs, as she had special holiday rates too. On one occasion, Ani asked him, that he pays her on hourly basis and after one bout; there were still 45 minutes left. This made the idiot leave his video game and start the act again. This is the professional leeway she gave to him and starts to sink into Ivan’s head. Soon, whispers of marriage occurred and that is where it all lead to the chaos. Both left New York and went to Las Vages, where they got married and she would get her 3 carat diamond ring, which she treasured, until it was to the forcible snatched by Toros ( Karran Karagulian ) and his two henchmen Garnik (Vachagan Tovmasyan, and Igor ( Yura Borisov). They were all employees of Ivan father Nikolai Zakharov ( Aleksey Serebryakov). Garnik was left by a bloody nose, by Ani, was quite a moron. Igor with a stony-face look, performed well. He was nominated for best supporting actor but could not make to it. A feat for any Russian in the last 40 years.
No sooner the news of the duo getting married spread, there were all guns blazing. Toros saw that the marriage is to be annulled and not divorced. He would hound Ivan, who had fled leaving Ani, to bring them to get the marriage finished. The drama, here, got a bit soggy, as Ivan inebriated and intoxicated, was searched on streets etc, until where he was obviously slated to be; in a bar. The next sequences saw Ani perform well, her last ditch efforts to save marriage, despite offers of 10K USD, while Ivan looked dazed and lost.
His marriage, was thus, a ticket to be American, hence, the alibi for him to marry Ani. The agruement put forward by Toros to plead for separation, which was also true. Ivan’s senses did arrive when his mother Galina (Daria Ekamasova) landed in a charter plane, to tell him that she had fed him milk, the last resort of a mother, and that he leave Ani. Ani called Ivan to be pathetic mother-f*cuker! After he had agreed to seal the separation. Ivan too wanted to break-off, and called Ani an escort, which piqued her!
The last words Ani conferred on Ivan was to be a f*cking pussy. Impliedly meaning that Ivan was like a woman, who was fuzzed out of courage to stand by his actions. But, here the Director, fizzled out too, as what could be expected of a 21 years old spoilt son of a multi-millionaire, on an errand in America? After all, marriage is an institution where families unite. And, never a woman with no parentage, or unknown genealogy, try to translate her Cinderella dreams, of becoming a part of a life of her Prince Charming. The stigma can never be washed-away. Whatever be the time, whichever be the society.
The world has always been begotten by women, but by the rules set by men.
Haider Abbas is a former UP State Information Commissioner and a film reviewer.
