Women have been objects of display for centuries, but there seems to be a shift of power when it pertains to who makes the decision to use female sexuality as a means to gain monetary wealth. Women were once told how to act and dress as well as not given the same rights as men, issues that are now not a problem, yet to women are still paraded around and used to sell products or ideals. It is now women who show themselves to get places, using their fierce femininity as a means for power over men. The so called "new generation" heroines are ready to do glamour roles, but the attitude of the directors toward film and women characters changed. This sea change can be witnessed in the 21st century Malayalam movies: "5 Sundarikal" (2013) and "Zachariyayude Garbnikal" (2013).
"5 Sundarikal" is an anthology of womanhood. This film deals with five different lives of five different women in five different milieus. Each story in this anthology is a hodgepodge of thought provoking emotions for the viewers. Though all in the pack are not of equal excellence the anthology stands out for its overall finesse in storytelling and technical standards. "5 Sethulekshmi," by debutante director Shyju Khalid is based on M. Mukundan's short story "Abuse of Children." Sethulekshmi (Baby Anikha), the central character is a school girl with an innocent heart and cute face. She has the habit of collecting photos of married couple from newspapers and pasting it to her old note book. Director skilfully portrays her innocence in her every doings. Sethu finds a good friendship with her classmate Abhi (Master Chethan). They are two lovely children which are not aware about the evils of this world. The day, they decided to take a photo similar to Sethu's collections became a dreadful experience for them. The film portrays the cruelty of men even towards a small girl child. Sex becomes a matter of fear in Sethu's life time.