Indira

1995 143’ col Tamil d/co-s Suhasini pc G.V. Films co-s Mani Rathnam lyr Vairamuthu c Santosh Sivan m A.R. Rehman lp Aravind Swamy, Anuradha Hasan, Ashwini, Nasser, Radha Ravi

Tamil star Suhasini’s directorial debut, scripted by her husband Mani Rathnam. Set in still feudal Southern Tamil Nadu, the film tells of the feud between the evil landlord Kotamarayar (Ravi) and the villagers of Maranur, whom he drives to a less fertile area across a river. The villagers are led by Sethupathy (Nasser), married to the villain’s sister and excommunicated for that reason. When Setupathy is killed by the landlord, his daughter Indira (Hasan) takes over the leadership of the village, with the encouragement of her urban lover (Swamy). In the film’s climax, when a flood threatens the portion of the village occupied by the uppercaste sections, Indira succeeds in establishing a humanitarian relationship transcending caste differences and set to the chant Inni achcham achcham illai, inni adimai ennam illai (There is no more fear, there is no thought of slavery).

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