International Women’s Day: Top Tamil films you need to watch

'Aval Oru Thodar Kathai' (1974)

K Balachander was a revolutionary filmmaker. At a time when Tamil cinema was churning out mindless entertainers, he took over the reins and came up with wonderful subjects challenging the societal norms. One such film is ‘Aval Oru Thodar Kathai’ that talks about the sacrifices made by a woman to make ends meet. The film ruffled the audiences with its theme, thanks to the stellar performance by late actress Sujatha. It became a path-breaking film and was instrumental in bringing about change. Even after all these years, ‘Aval Oru Thodar Kathai’ is remembered for its climax shot of Kavitha.

Director J Mahendran is one of the most underrated filmmakers in Tamil cinema and his film 'Uthiripookal' is a glowing example. After Balachander and Bharathiraja, he was the pioneer when it came to writing strong female characters for the big screen. Set in rural Tamil Nadu, ‘Uthiripookkal’ is a story revolving around a sadist who gains pleasure by torturing his wife. One of the main reasons for the success of the film is the performance by lead actors Ashwini and Vijayan. In fact, the story is written in such a way that it sums up the state of women in rural India. ‘Uthiripookkal’ has such rich legacy that it has influenced filmmakers like Mani Ratnam.

K Balachander had approached Mani Ratnam to direct a film under his banner Kavithalaya Productions. The premise of ‘Roja’ talked about the sensitive Kashmir issue. In an interview, Mani Ratnam revealed that the inspiration for the film was from a news article. ‘Roja’ is about a village girl Roja (Madhubala), who gets married to a cryptographer Rishi (Arvind Swami). Things take a turn when the militants in Kashmir take Rishi as their hostage. It tells the story from Roja’s point of view and her struggle to get back her husband. Academy Award winner AR Rahman made his cinematic debut with this film. Upon release, the film opened to rave reviews and has won several national and international awards.

The title of the film translates to ‘Ladies Only’. It became the first Tamil film to talk about workplace harassment faced by women. ‘Magalir Mattum’ is about three women - Janaki, Paapama and Satya coming from various walks of lives. At their workplace, they are constantly ogled at and sexually harassed by their boss, played by Nasser. Written by Crazy Mohan, ‘Magalir Mattum’ was a game changer when it released in 1994. Kamal Haasan makes a cameo role in this film. The film became very successful at the ticket window. It’s still known for the scene in the climax, where a female bus driver says, “It’s going to be us from now.”

After the phenomenal success of ‘Moondram Pirai’, filmmaker Balu Mahendra and Kamal Haasan teamed up again for a light-hearted comedy. ‘Sathi Leelavathi’ is essentially about female oppression. It talks about the life of a simple homemaker Leelavathi (Kalpana), who finds out about her husband’s affair. The rest of the story is about Leela’s transformation to ‘Sathi Leelavathi’ and how she takes her revenge. Despite by a comical premise, the film had some hard-hitting moments. Of course, the major highlight of the film is the climax scene featuring Kamal Haasan and Kovai Sarala. ‘Sathi Leelavathi’ was remade in Kannada as ‘Rama Bama Shama’, which became hugely successful.

Actress Suhasini Mani Ratnam made her directorial debut with ‘Indira’, which is perhaps the most underrated Tamil film. ‘Indira’ tells the story from a woman’s perspective, played by Anu Haasan in the titular role. Set in a remote village in Tamil Nadu, the film is a hard-hitting tale of a woman who single-handedly strives to fight against casteism. Despite good reviews, the film became a dud the box office. However, ‘Indira’ won two state awards. It also remains to be the only feature film directed by Suhasini.