|A THREAD|

Problems I had with IRAIVI.

Iraivi is one of the most accoladed work in Tamil Cinema in recent past for it's technical brilliance.

But right from the title, I had a lot of issues with the film itself.

I am attempting to bring it out just for better understanding.

The very first issue I had with the film is the title itself.
Its clearly misleading.
I never talks about its women.
It never shows what its women do.
All it portrays is how the actions of the film's men had to do with the women's life.
The entire screenplay revolves around them.

Name is the female equivalent of God, Iraivan even when one can go gender neutral with kadavul terms.
So considering that as a male term & coining a female equivalent wsnt convincing.

Also when women clearly fight for a mere EQUALITY in the society, BEING a GODESS is farfetched.

People find that it's the writer's intent to show how women struggle coz of the men in their lives.
But, THAT'S EXACTLY WHERE THE FILM'S IDEOLOGY COLLAPSE.

I would like to draw a comparison with another important contemporary films which released almost in the same span, MADRAS.

I remember reading Pa. Ranjit felt bad that his North Madras has always been shown of violence and he wanted to show the real life beyond the stereotypes.

Isn't it an irony that Madras also end up being a film that indeed shows violence. But that's where Madras escapes the mess.

It also has an hero who is against violence yet ended up being in it. He rises above it to go with his initial ideology of NON VIOLENCE AND EDUCATION towards the climax. That's exactly what the film does too.

It goes into the zone which the film is against, TO COME OUT STRONG.

And this is exactly where Iraivi fails for me.
It intended to show what and how men does affects women and the miseries it lead to.
But boy, for that YOU SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN THE FEMALE CHARACTERS WITH THE DEFINITE ARCS.

But, here all the female just EXIST around the men.

To make it easily understandable, I WOULD SAY THE WOMEN CHARACTERS ARE WRITTEN AFTER HAVE THE MEN IN THE SCRIPT.

For instance, VjS character needs a paavam wife. Bring in Anjali character. He needs a mistress, Bring in Pooja character. But it should have been the other way man.

U should have had a married yet single woman who is suffering coz his husband is in jail. You should have had a woman who can't marry the man she loves for several reasons &then u should have had a VjS character.
This is the exact reason why VjS has more arc than Anjali or pooja.

There is a difference between the men in the film treating their Women wrong & the script itself treating the women wrong.

I never have issues with the former until unless its not glorified. Thts not the issue in this film also. But the way the script treats it's women is MESSY.

The film opens with Kamalini's character in dilemma or confusion, the film still ends the same way.
Don't even go to Anjali's character please.

They JUST EXIST.
Won't they learn from the past? From what had already happened to them? Throughout the film all women are MONOTONOUS.

That's clearly coz they aren't written DEFINITELY.
Sir, when you take a task of saying how women are troubled by men, THE ONLY WAS IS YOU SHOULD ASK THEM. THEY SHD NARRATE.

THE THIRD PERSON NARRATIVE WONT WORK THERE.

If u wanna have the 3rd person narrative, then DON'T ATTEMPT.

It doesn't treat it's women well.
They never learn anything new in the film.
Pooja's strong character has to fele bad when VjS leaves her.
Anjali who managed the entire life post wedding alone, still has to accept the man who did nothing but to give her a baby.

KAMALINI'S plot OMFG....
She being financially strong, intellectually sound, still want a man with whom she can end up for a new life (without his full wish). And she gets into the dilemma to reconcile with her husband AGAIN, just to be left alone by him ALL OVER AGAIN.