Why Neelambari is No Feminist Icon

Many men think that educated and feminist women are embodiments of Neelambari - I beg to differ! Her character embodies any male villain in Tamil cinema.

1. She’s a classist, elitist, and entitled.

She mistreats her servants and acts like how male villains have been portrayed all this time - “if I don’t get what I want, no one else should get it so I will destroy it." Almost all Tamil movie villains display this thought process and no one batted an eye. A female character does the same and suddenly, she’s a feminist.

2. She thinks the world must fulfill her wishes and the consent and desires of others don’t matter.

Many male villains came in this mold - they only care about their desires. When you find feminists not supporting such characters, IDK how can you conclude Neelambari who displays the same character as feminist.

3. She’s vengeful and quite frankly, weak-minded.

Despite her education, sass, and worldly knowledge, she behaves like she has no choice in a life partner except Padayappa which brings us to her next trait.

4. She doesn’t move on for 18 years and wastes her life.

She basically ruins her life singlehandedly and blames Padayappa for it. This dimension of Neelambari’s character shares a resemblance to Naatamai villain’s character - no one says that his character is the result of Men’s Rights Activists. Like how she could have moved on and marry another man/start a company/become like Ratan Tata., the Naatamai villain could’ve left the village and live well in some other place. 

5. She is a hypocrite.

She says a feminist dialogue pinpointing her cousin’s submissive nature who heeds to her parents’ choice of a husband, pinpointing male chauvinism without checking her own chauvinism.

7. She’s obsessed with Padayappa in a bad way.

Love isn’t like what Neelambari shows to Padayappa. She wants him to submit to her as evidenced by the lyrics in Minsara Poove. It’s the kind of thing Indian men have been doing for ages and they suddenly realized it’s wrong when a woman does it - and they call that shit feminism.

So, yes, Neelambari’s character and feminism are poles apart. However, Neelambari did one good unknowingly. She made Tamil men realize what subjugation feels like. She turned the tables and made these men uncomfortable. However, instead of changing and seeing women as equals, these men painted Neelambari as the face of feminism.