Tamil film ‘Mayilaa’ is a tribute to ‘women whose lives and pain often remain unseen and unheard’

There has been a healthy batch of Tamil films in recent years set in small towns or villages, exploring with skin-pricking authenticity the travails and joys of ordinary people. This list – Pariyerum Perumal, Koozhangal, Seththumaan, Angammal – now includes Mayilaa, the assured first feature from 35-year-old actor Semmalar Annam.

Premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 29-February 8), Mayilaa is a remarkable drama about a woman’s uncommon resilience in the face of poverty, abandonment and emotional distress. Mayilaa revolves around a young mother with a cruel husband and a beloved daughter who is suffering from severe constipation.

Poongodi (Melodi Dorcas), who is also known as Mayilaa for her devotion to the goddess Mayilatha, takes her child Sudar (Shudar Kodi) along for a new job: going door to door to sell mats. Inexperienced at this sort of thing, Mayilaa struggles to earn the money she needs to dress the goddess in a saree.

Semmalar Annam’s script weaves together Mayilaa’s predicament, her faith in the goddess, which frequently leads her into a trance, and Sudar’s stomach problems. The micro-perspective reveals a wider world of women who refuse to be cowed down by grim circumstance, and who create as well as sustain a community that helps deal with the perfidies of men.

Shot by Vinoth Janakiraman, Mayilaa has solid...

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