The villain - who hails from a rival village called Singampatti - is a butcher called ‘Karikadai’ Kannan, who, with the help of his devious wife (Simran), has plotted his way into wealth and power. This is well in keeping with his inconsistent behaviour, which we will delve into a little later. A passing scene establishes that he is progressive enough to dislike people who bow to him, but not so progressive that he will reject their sycophancy. Seemaraja (Sivakarthikeyan) is the successor of a royal family, and everybody reverentially calls him ‘Raja’. So, where do we begin? Seemaraja’s inexplicable pride for its eponymous protagonist’s lineage is a good place to begin from. If we are indeed going to be bombarded with some of these overused, problematic ideas over and over again, well then, it may not be such a futile exercise to problematise these films over and over again. Why even be annoyed by the romanticisation of nobility and aristocracy? Why get frustrated by the objectification of women? You also have to wonder: Are the makers oblivious to these problems? Or more alarmingly, do they perhaps care, and yet wilfully - in the interest of furthering stardom - include them as necessities? Director Ponram clearly seems to operate with a fair sense of conviction on what makes successful rural films. Sometimes, it’s tempting to put your hands up in resignation, and stop analysing films like Seemaraja. Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Samantha, Soori, Simran
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |