A POETIC MASALA TALE OF CHAOS AND CONFORMITY

FREEDOM. It is quite an interesting beast because everyone wants it, but somehow they are tuned to keep it caged and away from others who might not have it.

- AVINASH RAMACHANDRAN

This dichotomy is very telling of the human mind. There is always someone who has more freedom than you, and someone who doesn’t have as much. It is supposed to be an absolute unit, but there are enough caveats in freedom to allow oppression of some kind to be perpetuated through avenues like patriarchy, misogyny, and simple conditioning. Director Vipin Radhakrishnan’s Angammal is one such film that shows how exercising freedom always comes at a cost in a society that values conformity.

Angammal (Geetha Kailasam) is a maverick matriarch who lives life on her own terms. She rides around her dusty old village on her rickety moped, delivering milk to all the villagers. She has a set of friends who sit around and make fun of people walking by. She dotes on her granddaughter, but wags her acerbic tongue at her daughter-in-law. She doesn’t show outward emotions to her wayward elder son, Sudalai (Bharani), and pours all of it on her second son, Pavalam (Saran Sakthi), who isa doctor. Basically, she has stopped mothering her firstborn, but never allowed the second son to wean off. This is wonderfully reflected in the way she asks Sudalai if Pavalam is angry with her, even though it’s been ages since she even had a decent conversation with the former. The irony isn’t missed by Sudalai, who is a silent spectator to all that unfolds. But one fine day, when Angammal is forced to live life on someone else’s terms, all hell breaks loose.