Nayanthara’s Airaa, Anjali’s Iraivi, Andrea’s Tharamani: Women centric films that failed miserably at feminism

It has been a great change for the women of Tamil cinema since 2017 as many women-centric movies started coming from that year. Though it is a well known truth that Tamil cinema fans worship its heroes, the times have now changed. Don’t get me wrong, we are still seeing the leading ladies at the clutches of the villains being used as a trap to get hold of the mass heroes. However, more movies of strong independent women, who are able to save themselves from distress, are coming up too. While a number of such films have come up in the recent past, some of these movies have failed at women empowerment and feminism. Here are three such popular movies of top actors:

Iraivi

Directed by Karthik Subbaraj, Iraivi is a self-proclaimed feminist film with famous male actors and unnecessary back stories. The film is all about how the male dominated society is being a huge burden for women in our country - A topic which was discussed even in the black and white era of Tamil cinema. Since it’s not the black and white era, we would expect these women to stand up for themselves or move on and start new lives. But no. These women also tolerate the emotional and physical abuses waiting for their husbands to change, only to be disappointed all over again and again.

The film rotates around four women and how their lives hang in the middle of nowhere because of the hasty decisions taken by their partners. It made me happy when I finally saw a woman in Tamil cinema, who did not want anything more than physical relationship from her male partner. No commitment, financial or emotional dependency. Malar (played by Pooja Devariya) is an artist, who meets up with Michel (played by Vijay Sethupathi) every now and then just for physical relationship. However, the unnecessary back story of Malar, where she has lost her husband to an accident made me feel like this film belongs in the ‘Sati’ era. Can a woman not move on from her past and start a new life? Okay, it’s her decision to not have any more relationships. But when she ended things with Michel, she stages a drama of seeing another man, while in reality, she is being lonely. Why is she being lonely? Because she is a ‘Nalla Ponnu’.

Taramani

Played by Andrea Jeremiah, this film shows a so called modern woman, who is at a top position in an MNC. She dresses up like Hollywood heroines, she goes to pubs, drinks and smokes because, hey she is modern. Will a woman with modern thoughts stay in a relationship where she is being emotionally and physically abused continuously? Yes, according to Taramani. After giving birth to her son, she ends her marriage with her husband as she finds out that he is not into women. Then she lands up with a homeless, jobless man. After her mother comes to know about this relationship, she throws her out along with her son in the middle of the night. So what does she do? She does not book a hotel and stay there, but spends the night at a railway station because that’s where her homeless boyfriend lives. After moving in with him in a home, he abuses her so badly in front of her son with words that no one would allow. He would often call her names and nag her whenever she has a conversation with her male colleague. Yet, she would not end the relationship and give him infinite number of chances.

Airaa

Nayanthara plays dual roles in the film – one of a dark skinned innocent girl from a village, who has inferiority complex issues – because she is dark skinned, and the other a fair skinned city-based woman. On what sinful land can a dark skinned woman be confident and hopeful? When she finds a man, who agrees to marry her and accepts her even though she is dark skinned (sarcasm intended), she dies in an accident. Then she comes back as a ghost and avenges all those who were responsible for the accident. Later, the fair skinned Nayanthara lets the spirit posses her because the spirit was that of a poor dark skinned woman.