Paava kadhaigal – Review, A Must Watch
Paava kadhaigal is a Tamil edition Netflix anthology mini-series (each episode has a different story) with four episodes, each less than 40min duration. Paava kadhaigal was released on 18th December 2020, after the release of the official teaser on 27th November 2020, and the official trailer on 3rd December 2020. It is currently streaming in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and in English. Paavai kadhaigal is a criticism on irrelevant social norms and social stigmas that causes pride, sin, prejudice, honour and hostility which inturn affects relationships. The title track “Kanne Kanmaniye” preceding the four-episodes creates a melancholic uneasy feel in the viewers, the red colour in the title song shows the transformation of a daughter from childhood to marriage, the song creates a rough picture on what to expect in the coming four episodes. Here is a short review of each episode.
Table of Contents
Thangam
The first episode among the four is “Thangam” directed by “Sudha Kongara”. The story is about a trans villager who has been excluded by the public, faces bullying and attack from the village Hooligans. Actor Kalidas Jayaram as ‘Sathar’ a Muslim trans woman, gave a wonderful performance. His character is successful in showing a transgender’s identity crisis and emotional feeling of hurt. The story takes place in a small town in Kovai district. The background music in this episode intensifies the emotions in the story. The story mainly focuses on the social stigmas and taboos on transgenders and intercaste marriage.
Love Panna Uttranum
“Love Panna Uttranum” is directed by “Vignesh Shivam”. The story is about a village landlord Veerasimman(Padam Kumar) seemingly having a negative view on love relationships and marriage, which causes fear in his two daughters Aadhilekshmi and Jothilekshmi. They also feel restricted from telling their father about their relationship. The story portraits conservative thinking of village people, it also shows the lifestyle differences in a village and town. Unlike the other three episodes, this story has a happy ending with brilliant humour.
Vaanmagal
“Vaanmagal” was directed by predominant Tamil cinema director and actor “Gautham Menon”. The story is about sexual abuse faced by “Ponnuthaayi”, the youngest daughter in a middle-class family. Satya(Gautham Menon) and Mathi(Simran), the middle-class couples, and their three children Bharath, Vaidehi and Ponnuthaayi, are playing the key roles in this story. Both Gautham Menon and Simran show their stunning performance. This story projects guilt, anger and social stigmas in the family in an intensive sensible way.
Oor Iravu
“Oor Iravu” was directed by “Vertrimaaran”. Similar to that of “Thangam” and “Vaanmagal”, “Oor Iravu” is also an emotionally disturbing episode. The story focuses on Sumathi (Sai Pallavi) and Hari (Harikrishnan) who loves each other, eloped and alienated from her family. When Pregnant Sumathi went back to her family for her baby shower, her father Janakiraman(Prakash Raj) shows hostility towards her. This story illustrates the stigmas of intercaste marriage with a tragic end.
Conclusion
All four episodes are based on socially relevant issues mostly found in a country like India. This series portraits how Sin and social stigmas restrict one’s personal choices and interests. Even though we are in the 21st century, most of rural India is not likely to accept transgenders, gays or lesbians as normal humans. Lower cast people are still considered as low in their status, even though they have a good education and high collar jobs. Intercaste marriage is considered a sin by society.
The courage to take such sensitive themes and successfully organise it in an awesome way is quite appreciated. This series allows us to break our limits of thinking, and can also create a deep painful scar in our heart. Under the direction of Sudha Kongara, Gautham Menon, Vetrimaaran and Vignesh Shivan and the excellent performances of the cast: Kalidas Jayaram, Shantanu Bhagyaraj, Bhavani Sre, Anjali, Kalki Koechlin, Padam Kumar, Simran, Gautham Menon, Aadhitya Bhaskar, Prakash Raj, Sai Pallavi and Hari Krishnan, made Paava Kadhaigal a best-rated mini-series.