Kannammaa Writes

Please forgive me for the late review of this movie. Many things happened in between, and I couldn't gather my thoughts to sit and write. A lot has been said about Lover - the internet is divided between Arun (Manikandan) and Divya (Sri Gouri Priya). I am too. But let's go about it, nonetheless. When talking about equality, men often say, "Men marry unemployed women. But women won't marry unemployed men." There's a reason women won't marry an unemployed man and it's not about the money. Divya and Arun have been in a relationship for 6 years. And a considerable amount of Arun's toxicity stems from his unemployment and insecurity about Divya earning.  Yeah, that's why I'd reject an unemployed man - his insecurity would suck the life out of me and I'd end up not progressing in my career and losing my mental peace. I can absolutely take care of my husband's needs and I would respect him, his space, and fiercely defend him from shamers -...

You know this whole, "If you are alone in the woods, would you rather be with a man or a bear?" thingy? I will tell my experience and it's not in some woods but in public, involving men and stray doggos. I wrote about how I was harassed and tortured by a bunch of boys in my neighborhood when I was in my early teens - you can read it  here.   The neighborhood where I lived had stray dogs. As a female human, I never had any issues with those dogs that roamed freely. It's not the same story with the male living things in the neighborhood. In fact, a bunch of street dogs tagged along after seeing Kumar (a boy who pursued me in the name of love and then assaulted me because I defended myself from his irksome and scary advances) bothering me in an empty street. Kumar got busy dealing with the persistent dogs and I got my chance to escape. Honestly, I don't know why the stray dogs behaved like that. Was it pack behavior? Did they know that Kumar was meaning harm to me an...

  Shriya Saran gets a lot of flak for the public display of affection (PDA) with her husband. But it delights journalists and camerapersons with XY chromosomes, as they keep demanding for more - coz it sells. The paradox is truly maddening. There was an incident of PDA in my family - that's what I'd like to share. My cousin fell in love with our youngest maternal uncle's wife's brother. He was madly in love with her too. Enter the veena pona mundam aka elder family members, tradition, murai, and dumb, primitive shit in between their love. These elders forbade the duo from proceeding with the relationship, what more marriage - because the murai for each of them is "sister-brother." I witnessed all the drama every time I went to the village for school holidays. My cousin's lover starved himself in rebelling the acute opposition while my cousin cried and threw things around - she was also beaten by her parents. It was very disturbing and as a 14 year old, I w...

I mean, isn't it obvious? Why would she marry anyone from the bunch that named her "Kaama Maha Rani" (Queen of Lust)? Because all they can see is her cleavage and navel. "I'm a trained Kathak dancer." Nope.   "I can do Rajasthani folk dance too." Nope.   "I incorporated social issues in my dance routines. " Nope. I have a degree in English literature." Nope.   "I am experimenting with character roles." Nope. "I  gave a lecture to students at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Madras on the history of films, and films as a medium of cultural exchange." Nope.  "I opened a spa to employ visually impaired masseurs." Nope.   Comes in a photoshoot with a hint of cleavage." Aah, yes, once a KMR, always a KMR. Lol, how in the world would any sensible, dignified woman marry anyone from this cesspool of prurient pricks with sex on their minds 24/7? This group of humans have genitals rising for AI ...

An actress spoke to me about the casting couch culture in Kollywood.  She checked the Karuththu Kannammaa page and saw the comments shaming actresses as "pacha thevidiyas" with no regard for people's opinions and will sleep with anyone to get ahead in their career. The following isn't a tearful rant from a victim. It's a fiery opposition and equalizing things between men and women by someone affected by a shady, clandestine system that exonerates the men who created, develop, and use the system and getting no blame for it. The actress calls those producers, directors, cameramen "systemic thevidiya junnis." I think it's apt AF.  "If you won't question and shame those men who perpetuate this organized system, you have no right to question the actresses who go along with the system. Yes, I wasn't forced but why do they put such a deal when the business is to be fair, open, and transparent with a single-pronged focus on acting talent and n...

You can't say that Indian parents by default, "only want the best for their children." And you know, go on to malign those adult children who don't care for their "old parents who sacrificed so much for them." We don't know what does an adult child who doesn't care about their parents carry in their hearts. And Indian parents aren't exactly angels - for many of them, what society says, status, caste pride, their own ego, and vainglorious quests are more important than their children's happiness. Because these children are victims of their parents who claim, "I only want the best for my children."  "I want the best for my children," is an Indian parent trap. More Indian couples broke up because of their parents, "who want the best for them," than their own perceived incompatibility. First these parents say shit like, "I brought you up for all these years. Don't I know what's best for you?" Then t...