Kannammaa Writes

Director Shankar is to be blamed for this depiction of a Tamil girl in a Hindi serial, Mann Sundar - painting the Tamil girl next door with an unnatural dark skin tone. He sowed the overreaching seed in Sivaji the Boss that North India lapped up. He simply shows the white worshipping mentality in every movie he directs. I hear you saying that if Shankar is fixated on white skin, he wouldn’t have cast Rajinikanth because Rajinikanth and see you walking away in slo mo. 😂😂😂 Rajini has a mass appeal built from a long, illustrious career. That is why Shankar cast him and put a punch "Dravidians oda nirame karuppu." (Dark skin is the pride of Dravidians.) 😂 It was Rajini's value that was banked on and the sexist colorist bias that has been ingrained since the movie Muthu.  "Sivappana aangal inga sila kodi undu, karuppana en mel kann vaithathenna?" (There are many fair-skinned men. But you chose me who is dark-skinned, why?) Then the fair-skinned lady goes, "T...

On TikTok, Malay people are singing praises for Maharaja. And I am swept by it too. So, here’s my review of the touted best film of the year! The humor and “Lakshmi” the dustbin had me in stitches and established an emotional connection. After Pannaiyarum Padminiyum, I feel Lakshmi’s anthropomorphism is the best. The owner joke is a twist and reveals Maharaja’s nonchalance about things like ownership and authority. It sets the stage for his characterization and what matters to him - his small family and a few friends. Ilayaraja and “Police” comedy are legendary. First, they confuse you. Then they engage you. You can feel your brain growing to brain the back-and-forth non-linear screenplay. To ease the confusion, they sprinkled humor and ingrained Maharaja’s persistent personality. Lakshmi is the red herring that carries the story and what happened - Maharaja’s daughter being raped and the enmity on Selvam’s behalf, unbeknownst to Maharaja. Manikandan’s comeback. I root for underdogs an...

In the past, I had the thought process that "virginity" is the be all, end all. like AJ Bhairav and his followers. And I've spoken harshly and treated a friend badly because she had a boyfriend and had sex with him. Trigger warning: Mentions of grooming and statutory rape. Let's call my friend Khaya. She was from a Tamil primary school and we met in high school. Before long, we became friends although we were in different classes - we lived in the same neighborhood and boarded the same school bus. She helped me learn to take the public bus as we had co-curricular activities in school on Saturdays. She also helped me speak Tamil better. Soon, she hooked up with our school bus driver's son (he was much older than us). We were 13 and he was at least 18. 😶 Khaya borrowed my Alien Workshop tee one Saturday when we went to the city library 👽. Later, she took off with her boyfriend. I finished studying at the library and went home. On Monday, Khaya returned my tee and ...

 Aranmanai 4 starts with a gender-equal concept - both the mother (wife) and father (husband) take care of their children. Then, the father dies, killed by a demon, and the mother is killed by the same demon, having taken the form of the father. She dies trying to protect her children. The film's plot goes downhill from there. You mother? You die? You come as ghost to take care of your children. Really? Even in death, women are the ones who should become a spirit and take care of their children?  The thing is, the father dies and rests in peace but the mom has to perform caretaking duties even as a ghost? There is a cinematic concept of multiple ghosts - Casper and Kanchana. Well, that could've been applied here - continuing the father's involvement in taking care of his children together with his wife after death.   Protecting is not the same as caretaking. I understand that the mother's spirit is there to safeguard her children from the demon. That is all well and ...

I have a habit of testing things. So I tested period taboos too and I am now putting it forth so you can overcome your fears and do whatever you want during menstruation. ENTERING THE PRAYERS ROOM Despite the restriction, I entered the prayer room at home to take fruits or put on "holy ash" when I was menstruating forgetfully many times. At first, I was scared that I would fail my exams or God will kannu kutthing. Nothing of that sort happened, so I intentionally entered the prayer room during periods. I’m still here, fine as I can be. GOING TO THE TEMPLE As a teen, I have gone to Thaipusam during periods. I was told that the man who whips himself as an offering for Lord Muruga will whip me if I went to Thaipusam during menstruation. I went anyway and that man was preoccupied with whipping himself. He didn't give me as much as a sideway glance. TOUCHING THE TULASI (HOLY BASIL) PLANT I have a habit of plucking a few holy basil leaves and chewing on them as a mouth freshene...