Our society has been built over centuries of discrimination system, where a person can rise to the top only when they gather mob support.
Branding people on the basis of caste, social class, community, gender, etc. is an easy way devised to achieve this. “Honor” is the righteous name given to justify this.
Paava Kadhaigal is an anthology film that has been highly anticipated for quite some time, mainly because of the popular filmmakers involved in it. The movie is now available on Netflix.
It is a compilation of stories covered in four separate episodes, each taking a unique perspective on “honor”.
Thangam (Directed by Sudha Kongara Prasad)
The story of Thangam revolves around a trans male, Sathaar, who lives in a small village in 1981 Tamil Nadu. He is buoyant and high spirited, despite being ridiculed by his fellow villagers. It is heartbreaking to see them referring to Sathaar as “it”, like he doesn't even deserve a human pronoun.
There is a stereotype in India where trans people are particularly looked down on because they are often seen begging. Sathaar on the contrary works very hard and tries to help others whenever he can.
Sathaar’s friend Saravana is the only person who cares for him and values his existence. After some drama, the responsibility to unite his sister and Saravana (a Hindu- Muslim marriage) falls on Sathaar. He is forced to give up his life in a series of unfortunate events that follow.
Although Saravana is portrayed as a great friend, he decides to leave the village knowing very well that Sathaar will have to take the heat for his decision. But unfortunately, Sathaar’s life is so insignificant that this plain ignorance doesn't even matter.
The story of Thangam will definitely move anybody to tears. For decades, most film-makers derived humor from trans people, but this is a story where Sathaar is given the loudest voice, and many thanks to Sudha Kongara for bringing this change.
Love Panna Uttranum (Directed by Vignesh Shivan)
The story is a satire on ridiculous notions of honor that people hold in our society, so much that the propagators themselves hate it.
Love Panna Uttranum starts with a politician blessing an inter-caste couple on the outside but secretly getting them killed by his sinister followers.
Vaanmagal (Directed by Gautham Menon)
In this story, Ponnuthayi is a cheerful 12-year-old girl who grows up in a normal family, with typical middle-class parents. Her father, Sathya encourages her to dream big and her mother, Mathi tells her to stay vigilant and safeguard the family’s honor.
Oor Iravu (Directed by Vetri Maaran)
The central idea of Oor Iravu is interestingly given away as honor killing, with a small news bit in Vaanmagal. So, when this story starts with Janakiraman coming to reconcile with his daughter, we are already trying to find deception in his words.
Sumathi is a well-educated woman who lives in the city with her husband. She goes against her family’s wishes and gets married to a man from another caste.
Edited by - Sandhya R
Paava Kadhaigal is an anthology film that has been highly anticipated for quite some time, mainly because of the popular filmmakers involved in it. The movie is now available on Netflix.
It is a compilation of stories covered in four separate episodes, each taking a unique perspective on “honor”.
Thangam (Directed by Sudha Kongara Prasad)
The story of Thangam revolves around a trans male, Sathaar, who lives in a small village in 1981 Tamil Nadu. He is buoyant and high spirited, despite being ridiculed by his fellow villagers. It is heartbreaking to see them referring to Sathaar as “it”, like he doesn't even deserve a human pronoun.
There is a stereotype in India where trans people are particularly looked down on because they are often seen begging. Sathaar on the contrary works very hard and tries to help others whenever he can.
Sathaar’s friend Saravana is the only person who cares for him and values his existence. After some drama, the responsibility to unite his sister and Saravana (a Hindu- Muslim marriage) falls on Sathaar. He is forced to give up his life in a series of unfortunate events that follow.
Although Saravana is portrayed as a great friend, he decides to leave the village knowing very well that Sathaar will have to take the heat for his decision. But unfortunately, Sathaar’s life is so insignificant that this plain ignorance doesn't even matter.
The story of Thangam will definitely move anybody to tears. For decades, most film-makers derived humor from trans people, but this is a story where Sathaar is given the loudest voice, and many thanks to Sudha Kongara for bringing this change.
Love Panna Uttranum (Directed by Vignesh Shivan)
The story is a satire on ridiculous notions of honor that people hold in our society, so much that the propagators themselves hate it.
Love Panna Uttranum starts with a politician blessing an inter-caste couple on the outside but secretly getting them killed by his sinister followers.
His daughter Aadhilakshmi, unaware of his double life, asks his permission to marry her lover, who belongs to a lower caste. He mercilessly gets his own daughter killed.
Then enters his second daughter Jyotilakshmi, along with her lesbian girlfriend. Shocked by her father’s brutality, Jyoti manages to trick him and escape from that literal hell.
The story involves a lot of dark humor. It makes you think that there's nothing much you can do except laughing out at these absurd notions of prestige in our society.
Then enters his second daughter Jyotilakshmi, along with her lesbian girlfriend. Shocked by her father’s brutality, Jyoti manages to trick him and escape from that literal hell.
The story involves a lot of dark humor. It makes you think that there's nothing much you can do except laughing out at these absurd notions of prestige in our society.
Vaanmagal (Directed by Gautham Menon)
In this story, Ponnuthayi is a cheerful 12-year-old girl who grows up in a normal family, with typical middle-class parents. Her father, Sathya encourages her to dream big and her mother, Mathi tells her to stay vigilant and safeguard the family’s honor.
She is at a tender age, almost unaware of vultures in the world but she is forced to know by a heinous incident.
Her life falls into steep darkness from there and the rest of the story deals with how she and the family overcome the trauma. For a minute, it was scary to see Mathi who repeatedly washed her victimized daughter, almost like she’s experiencing OCD.
Vaanmagal correctly questions the broader definition of “honor”. On one hand, we see the honor of the family that throws a puberty ceremony, announcing to the world that their daughter has come to age.
Her life falls into steep darkness from there and the rest of the story deals with how she and the family overcome the trauma. For a minute, it was scary to see Mathi who repeatedly washed her victimized daughter, almost like she’s experiencing OCD.
Vaanmagal correctly questions the broader definition of “honor”. On one hand, we see the honor of the family that throws a puberty ceremony, announcing to the world that their daughter has come to age.
And, on the other hand, we see the “honor of the family" and “purity” that a woman is conditioned to carry within.
Oor Iravu (Directed by Vetri Maaran)
The central idea of Oor Iravu is interestingly given away as honor killing, with a small news bit in Vaanmagal. So, when this story starts with Janakiraman coming to reconcile with his daughter, we are already trying to find deception in his words.
Sumathi is a well-educated woman who lives in the city with her husband. She goes against her family’s wishes and gets married to a man from another caste.
Her father Janakiraman cannot digest the humiliation she brought on the family. He tricks her with sweet words, brings her back to their village, and brutally murders her.
This makes us wonder how far people can go to save their honor. At one-point Janakiraman complains that Sumathi’s younger sisters are not getting good matches because the elder sister has eloped. But he’s somehow convinced that killing his daughter will restore his pride.
Overall, Paava Kadhaigal is a gut-wrenching anthology that lived up to its hype. This is a must-watch film (or set of short films) and will stay in your thoughts for quite some time.
Written by - Saija Bhumireddy
This makes us wonder how far people can go to save their honor. At one-point Janakiraman complains that Sumathi’s younger sisters are not getting good matches because the elder sister has eloped. But he’s somehow convinced that killing his daughter will restore his pride.
Overall, Paava Kadhaigal is a gut-wrenching anthology that lived up to its hype. This is a must-watch film (or set of short films) and will stay in your thoughts for quite some time.
Written by - Saija Bhumireddy
Edited by - Sandhya R
0 Comments