The Women of Kandukondain Kandukondain

I’ve always liked all the female characters in Kandukondain Kandukondain. Mainly it’s because they don’t show women as frivolous, aimless, and dependent like movies these days. The characterization is as realistic as it is revolutionary.

Meenakshi (Aishwarya Rai)

She is idealistic and a hopeless romantic - her head is in the clouds and she is a bit of a flibbertigibbet. However, she has a mind of her own and doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. She is also not satisfied with staying at home with the hope that she can live off her rich lover by marrying him. Meenakshi knows her talents and uses them to contribute financially to her family. When she rejects Srikanth when he expects her to be with him after he marries someone else, she displays her dignity. And the maturity she shows when finally choosing her life partner is something rare in women these days.

Sowmya (Tabu)

She is independent and capable from the start. She speaks where she is supposed to speak but she lets the perception of “raasi illathava” get to her heart. She immediately looks for a job in Chennai instead of looking for Manohar. Sowmya works her way up the ranks at work and lifts her family’s quality of life. She rejects her ancestral property, showing that self-reliance is honorable. Seemingly contained, she lets her chagrin and disappointment out finally and realizes that raasi is BS - your life is what you make it.

Padma (Srividya)

Though a boomer in some aspects, I love how she doesn’t interfere in her daughters’ choices, their life partners in particular. She never said, “But he’s lame and much older than you,” when Meenu says she loves Bala. This is something quite rare in Indian mothers. She also works at a construction site and then a restaurant to earn money to survive in the city.

Kamala

The genius of the family. Her crush is CV Raman, not some cinema hero. She is curious and studious - she asks for orchid specimens at Bala’s flower farm. A good role model for young girls.

Chinnaatha (S.N Letchumi)

She stayed loyal and loving to the family and didn't ditch them when they are at their worst.

Perhaps the women of Kandukondain Kandukondain are so progressive because Jane Austen characterized them in her novel, "Sense and Sensibility" which inspired the film.