If you have heard about a movie called "Sasanam (The Will)" - which the director boasts about claiming it to be an art movie with emotions and values - that was released recently in Chennai's premier multiplexes, here goes the warning alert for you!
"Do not even attempt to watch the movie. If you are a cinema buff going crazy over meaningful and alternate cinema, this movie is definitely not your kind of choice!"
This movie is from the much acclaimed director Mahendran whose earlier ventures were really worth watching. But, pathetically, the story line of this movie is a much worn out and a cliche'd one!
The story, apart from moving on a beaten track of extra marital relationships (which you would have heard thousand times in Tamil movies), glorifies partriachy and casteism. What the hell? And more shocking aspect of the movie is that the intellectual artistes like Gouthami and Ranjitha performing such uninspiring, conventional and an age old roles in the movie. If the actresses have accepted this hoping to get a big break through this hopeless movie then it would be very hard to comment on their naivette.
A man (Arvind Swami) from Nagarathar community (is it a subcaste of Chettiars?) in chettinad lives a happy life ( as you always see in Tamil movies, 'happy' means wife serving the man of the house and he in turn 'protects' her) with his wife (Gowthami). But only if Ranjitha had not entered! Does it ring a bell? Yes an extramarital relationship! I was wondering, through the course of the worst experience of watching this awful movie, how does it become so easy for a man(director) to justify an illicit relationship in support of a man on screen? Doesn't he know about the status of million women in our country who are being maligned, abused, tortured and exploited through these forced realtionships? Isn't he aware 0f that? Would he dare to support a woman who has got a similar extra marital relationship? Does the director think it is normal and within the codes of society for a man to have an extra marital affair?
There is one more awful aspect in the movie which makesit worse than the dozens and dozens of hopeless movies on similar plots. It is the reason cited for the hero to land up in such an affair. The reason cited is that, on the day of his father's death, in search of comfort the hero lands up in Ranjitha's house and ends up making love with her! On the same day of his father's death! For heaven's sake! What does the director mean by 'comfort'? Does he try to say that a man could be comforted at the worst situations, like the loss of hero's father, only through sex? How could the director even come up with such a ridiculous and an inane argument? Isn't it very clear that what the hero has been upto was nothing but the sexual exploitation of an insecure woman?
And the worst part comes thereafter when both the women start to praise and worship him. The conversation between Ranjitha and Gowthami assuming the hero to be the lost child in a trade fair(is it the proper translation of Tamil word "Thiru Vizha") is the height of stupidity and vulgarity. They literally pamper the hero! Oh my god, didn't the director get even a bit of aversion towards the hero's character? This so called art movie cannot even pass off by being labelled "a badly directed movie". This is one of those movies which tries to preserve the partriachy, male chauvinism and sexism in the Tamil society which already has enough dosages of all these social evils to keep women chained and restrained from progressing towards a free society.
The movie does not stop with that. It tortures you by letting each and every character in the movie to praise the hero and his caste. But one question, when the director has taken such efforts to present the tradition and life style of this upper caste community, why did he then forget to boast about their tradition of oppressing dalits that continues till date? Probably, he would give a sequel with the strong dosages of casteism to preserve this tradition in Tamil society.
To rubbish this movie, you need not be a fierce feminist! All you need to have is an important organ made of soft tissues called brain contained in your hard and rigid skull.
P.S. If you have by any chance read the review of this movie in Friday Review, The Hindu, please do not believe it! The author of the review has a high reputation of being a conservative, anti-feminist and a traditionalist. And this time too, she proves herself to be worthy of her hard earned reputation through her reviews for loads and loads of movies hailing male chauvinism.
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