When Women Won’t Pretend All Is Well To Make Men Feel Good About Themselves…

No matter who is in power, it is clear that these women won’t be taking shit from anyone. They won’t sit down and pretend everything is perfect just because they are expected to.

New Tamil release on Amazon Prime Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum is a brilliant political satire that comments on the state of politics in India through the story of a rural couple who have lost their bulls. And the women in this movie are loud, brash, and won’t shut up – thank Goddess for that!

The phrase ‘Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum’ means ‘whether Rama rules or Ravana rules’ – it reminded me of how Sita was treated badly in the Ramayana no matter who was ruling, be it Ravana who abducted her, or Rama who exiled her to the forest. Sita finally gets so tired of it all that she disappears into the Earth, but it’s clear that the women of Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum will not be disappearing anytime soon!

Men don’t notice their privilege, but women do…

My favourite scene is when a schoolgirl refuses to sing praises of their village Poocheri for a documentary, for which two reporters have come to the village. Her school is located too far away and that she has too much work to do on top of all that… and if they want praises they should ask the “wastrels here clad in white dhotis” – a clear indication towards men who often think everything is fine the way it is because of their privilege.

But it’s not just in villages that women have lesser privilege. Take the educated Narmada (one of the reporters) for example. She tells her boss that a news video is ready. After watching it, he assumes that it is the work of her male colleague and tells him that it is awesome. Her colleague however, gives her the credit, and Narmada continues talking. But the bias has been shown and it is unmissable.

A tale of two women

With Narmada who tells the villagers about their rights, and when the TV channel she works for won’t cover it anymore, continues covering Poocheri on her YouTube channel, and Veerayi, the woman who lost her bulls, this is truly a tale of two badass women.

Veerayi’s ‘meet-cute’ with her future husband had famously involved a raised machete, and when an old gossip asks her why she doesn’t have any kids yet, Veerayi asks her in turn why she would need kids when she has her bulls.

And when the politician who stole their bulls tries to compensate them (to avoid bad press) using two random bulls, it is Veerayi who refuses to accept them. She will not settle for any less than she deserves.

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Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum (now streaming on Amazon Prime) is at its core, a movie about not shutting up. And that is the lesson I learned – to not shut up because it’s really important not to, sometimes.

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