Bharathiraja's Karuthamma: The Courage to Confront a Society That Kills Its Daughters
A befitting tribute to Bharathiraja is by reminiscing his feminist film, Karuthamma. A Film That Refused to Look Away Some films entertain. Some films move us. A rare few force an entire society to confront its own reflection. In 1994, filmmaker Bharathiraja released Karuthamma , a film that dared to speak about one of the darkest realities hidden within rural India: female infanticide. At a time when the subject was rarely discussed openly, Bharathiraja brought it to the center of public consciousness, exposing a practice that many preferred to ignore. The film is not merely a story about the killing of baby girls. It is an examination of the social, economic, and cultural forces that make such violence possible. It asks uncomfortable questions about patriarchy, dowry, poverty, and collective complicity. More importantly, it asks a question that continues to resonate today: What kind of society destroys its daughters while worshipping motherhood? The Horror of Normalized Violenc...