Web Series Vadhandi: Velonie’s Fable Takes Voyeurism And Slut Shaming To A New Low!

Trigger Warning: This deals with violence against women, death, slut shaming and voyeurism, and may be triggering to survivors. 

A few days back, I binge-watched Vadhandi: The Fable of Velonie on Amazon Prime. Helmed by Pushkar-Gayatri of Suzhal: The Vortex & Vikram Vedha fame, the Tamil web series looked promising.

Let me warn you – it’s not an easy watch. The voyeuristic nature of men & their slut-shaming tendency will make one puke with disgust and shock.

A beautiful young Anglo-Indian teenager Velonie is found murdered. A mystery like this usually throws red herrings at the watchers, ultimately revealing the perpetrator. But in Velonie’s case, who is the criminal? The one who snuffed the life out of her, or the ones who continued to damage her reputation even after her horrific death?

The makers set the ball rolling when a man climbs into the van carrying the semi-decomposed corpse. A policeman reprimands him and he scampers out. The intention is crystal clear. Sexually-charged men spare none, not even a woman’s dead body.

It gets worse and worse

People remember her oomph factor and weave malicious tales around Velonie. A beautiful and free-spirited girl must be shameless and uninhibited. To them, she is nothing less than a prostitute. Her personal life obviously shouldn’t matter to anyone, but then, the self-crowned moral custodians of our culture continue to rub their hands in glee as they conjure up non-existent affairs.

If one thinks only illiterate and rural people can do so, then one needs to rethink. The episodes of the IT guys might seem out of place, but it throws light on the malice that rears its head in even so-called educated employees working in MNCs. I wished their female colleagues had stood up for Velonie earlier, rather than reprimanding the boys afterwards.

I had a problem with the portrayal of Vivek’s wife. Normally spouses of policemen or agents are often shown as whining or complaining. Now, I have no problem if they demand love or equality when their husbands neglect them. But when the lady in question suspects her husband of having an affair with the dead Velonie, it makes for a very comical figure. I would have been happier if she had put her foot down and demanded that Vivek pay attention to their only child.

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The murderer is finally revealed. The revelation comes as a shock. But what continues is the baseless rumour. Velonie is passé now. The stage is set for the next victim.

Men don’t change. Do they?

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