Etharkum Thunindhavan movie review: Suriya shoulders a thoughtful commercial film

Language: Tamil There is a viral video of Director Mari Selvaraj speaking about the film _Papanasam_ , the Tamil remake of the Malayalam hit _Drishyam_ . The film is about a girl who accidentally kills her harasser, after being blackmailed with a private video taken without her knowledge and consent. The father goes to extreme lengths to protect his daughter from the police and finally saves her. “Why does the father, at no place, tell her that she has nothing to be ashamed of? It’s the harasser who should be ashamed,” asks Mari. It is an important question, reflective of the cultural patriarchal ethos of our society. Finally, we seem to have an answer in Pandiraj-Suriya’s Etharkum Thunindhavan. Loosely based on the Pollachi sexual assault case, Etharkum Thunindhavan sees Suriya play a righteous lawyer again, after _Jai Bhim_ , but of a very different kind. Unlike Chandru, Kannabiran does not fight only in courts. He stumbles upon a network of men – headed by the rich, influential politician Inba (Vinay) – who dupe women into relationships and later harass them with intimate videos taken without their knowledge or consent. He takes them to court, but no avail. Will Kannabiran help the women get justice? To use Tamil cinema parlance, ET is Suriya’s ‘commercial theatre film’ in two years. After two successful OTT releases, it is clear that this film is specifically for the non-urban audience. This means that the narrative will follow the commercial template. Larger-than-life action, unnecessary duet songs, massy punch dialogues, slow-motion low angle shots, family sentiment, humour tracks, etc – ET has them all. Subtlety is not one of Pandiraj’s stronger traits. It is funny how Kannabiran has time to jump to duet numbers despite the ‘ticking clock’. [caption id=“attachment_10447011” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Suriya in a still from Etharkkum Thunindhavan’s song Vaada Thambi[/caption] But to its credit, ET keeps the frill to the minimum. The film is predominantly pacy – the fast cuts remind you of a Hari film. And it devotes more energy to breaking several biases and stereotypes. Even the romance and humour sequences are structured to be socially more responsible. At the end of an entertaining sequence, Kannabiran marries Aadhini (Priyanka Mohan), after tricking her father. Before tying the mangalsutra, Kannabiran asks Aadhini for her consent, even though she is part of the plan. Unlike most commercial films that glamourise violence and bloodshed, ET has Kannabiran turning to vigilantism only after the systems fail them. Furthermore, he accepts the legal repercussions of those actions as well. ET does play safe, mind you. The videos never make their way to the public domain. The protagonists are ‘clean’. Aadhini gets blackmailed with videos of her bathing and being intimate with her husband, unlike the other women who were taped by their boyfriends. But the film never slut-shames its victims. The film solely holds the men accountable and re-emphasises the need to educate our men better rather than control the women. And this is incredibly significant. ET does what Papanasam and Drishyam did not – it looks beyond the woman’s body. “When you have done nothing wrong, why do you have to be ashamed,” asks Kannabiran to the traumatised Aadhini, after she is blackmailed with a video of her bathing. Their families also support her.

The film is also careful to not paint an idealistic, utopian dream. It acknowledges the deep personal trauma women face in such situations, the cruel judgements they are subjected to, and also how legal justice is almost inaccessible to most victims.

Suriya is formidable as Kannabiran, who oscillates between being an ally and a saviour. And he is ably supported by a very convincing ensemble of actors – Sathyaraj, Saranya, Ilavarasu, Devadharshini, Priyanka Mohan – who easily balance both the serious moments with the intense ones. And it is interesting how Pandiraj preemptively uses Inba to avoid specific criticism from the average viewer. For example, after Aadhini’s powerful and emphatic monologue, Inba exclaims, ‘This is educational, not emotional.’ In an ideal world, this film would have been titled ‘Edharkum Thunindhaval’. It’s what society asks of a woman – to be fearless– even for simple things that might seem seemingly mundane to cishet men. But one cannot deny that Suriya’s presence widens the net for conversation, and does not preach to the choir. It is commendable that a mainstream star like Suriya consistently walks the tightrope – to deliver something meaningful and progressive but also satisfy commercial expectations. And more importantly, to do so without losing focus on the central issue. I hope the streak continues. Rating: * * *

Ashameera Aiyappan is a film journalist who writes about Indian cinema with a focus on South Indian films. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.