1) Keerthy Suresh was wearing white sneakers? Avlo detail-lam en kannukku padala. But why is this noteworthy? Indhulayum edhavadhu symbolism irukka? Like casteist notions of white=pure aval kaal seruppukku samam or something? I’m sure some online pullingo will say some uruttu like that..
3) Yeah the violence on animals was hard to watch. People getting tortured and killed gorily is a guilty pleasure in movies, and at worst, is an annoyance when its overdone. But innocent animals getting brutally killed is harder to sit through. MaariSelvaraj seems to indulge in this psychotic animal abuse in all his movies, and gets away with it in the name of symbolism.
4) That must be Udayna’s interference. They very smoothly made sure not to depict casteism as a political problem exploited by the mainstream parties, but merely as some rustic ego issue of corrupted individuals that the kind principled political leaders at the top disapprove of. The CM is noble, with a bust of Periyar, and sticks to high principles, reaches out and respects even a lowly local cadres because everyone is equal, the party (with a symbol of a star, wink wink) can never be at fault. The fault is only with the temple-thiruvizha-attending rustic in a far-flung town who is too superstitious to be influenced by the noble ideas of his party founders. Of course.
Udayna does this in other message movies too, like in the article14 remake, where the original explored the nexus of land-owning castes and politicians, but in Tamil, the iyer cop was conveniently made the sole villain.
5) Adhellam pesa koodadhu. Here being disgusted by pigs that roll in sakkadai is a form of deep-rooted casteist, patriarchal, brahminical bigotry. Hell, even being personally vegetarian and expressing that is a form of casteist evil. Vegetarianism is woke, liberal and environmentally conscious only in the west, here the tables turn, with intentions projected based on caste.
6) Somehow Vadivelu never registered much for me. He was just being dull and brooding and going through the motions. Granted, he’s always a competent actor, and its refreshing when a comic actor pulls off a serious role. But that image change apart, what great acting was demonstrated here on Vadivelu’s part? Almost nothing was required of him except to look worn-out.
7) That Devar Magan controversy seems like a marketing gimmick in hindsight to develop some buzz around Vadivelu. This movie has nothing to do with Devar Magan in any way. As has been pointed out, the Esakki character there was of the same caste as the protagonist (and antagonist), and part of the same household, but just in a subservient role when it came to the ego clashes among the bigwigs. What has any of that got to do with Dalits, reserved constituencies etc.? Chumma for publicity they drummed up some connection and half-baked comparisons.
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