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Avalum Penn Thaane
aka She Too Is A Woman 1974 164’ b&w Tamil d/s Durai pc Shri Panduranga Prod. p P.R. Ramarao, Pandharibai Ramarao lyr Vali c V. Manohar m V. Kumar lp R. Muthuraman, M.R.R. Vasu, Thengai Srinivasan, S.A. Ashokan, S.V. Sahasranamam, Sumithra, Manorama, M.N. Rajam, Pandharibai, Kutti Padmini, V.K. Ramaswamy, S.V. Ramadas, Adithan, Dasarathan, Ambathur Mani
Durai’s first film tells of Seeta (Sumithra), a prostitute, and her attempt to quit the trade. Muthu (Muthuraman), a young businessman from a mofussil town finds her in a Madras brothel and proposes marriage but her pimp (Vasu) ruins her chances and she commits suicide. A strident camera and editing, heavy symbolism, two songs and a comic subplot help maintain the narrative momentum of the melodrama. In contrast to Tamil cinema’s archetypes, the film offers some well-drawn characters with distinct caste identities, speaking with pronounced regional accents: the Chettiar money lender and his young wife interested in pornography, Kanagu the vegetable vendor and Sambandham the bicycle mechanic.