Why Netflix’s Paava Kadhaigal – a shocking anthology about honour killings starring Anjali and part-directed by Gautham Menon – is set to be a game changer in Indian cinema
Anjali, Simran and Sai Pallavi all star in Netflix’s gritty new Tamil language drama Paava Kadhaigal, or Stories of Sin, that aims to help audiences understand the realities behind the gory headlines
Avid watchers of Indian cinema have been dying to watch Netflix India’s latest project – not least because it stars some of the country’s most under-utilised acting talents and is helmed by several award-winning directors, including Gautham Vasudev Menon and Vignesh Shivan.
Paava Kadhaigal (Stories of Sin in English) sees Anjali, Kalidas Jayaram, Kalki Koechlin, Prakash Raj, Sai Pallavi, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj and Simran, among others, portray four different heart-wrenching stories in the movie, which will begin streaming on Netflix from December 18.
The deep dive into the prevalent social ill of honour killings is set in rural Tamil Nadu. The four, half-hour movies knit into a larger feature, and it’s a gut-wrenching exercise to watch the details of stories taken straight from the headlines.
Every year, honour killings make news around the globe: “Outcry in Iran over honour killing of 14 year old girl” (May 2020); “Suspected honour killing of 21-year-old woman sparks Palestinian protests” (2019); “Newly married Christian man beaten to death in honour killing that shocks southern India” (2018); “Teenager’s body found in fridge in suspected London honour killing” (2017) – and on and on.
But how does one translate a taboo, tabloid-worthy topic into a watchable movie?
For one, in the age of Netflix and Covid-19, which has closed many cinemas, directors needn’t concern themselves with box office ratings, giving a controversial topic like the one in Paava Kadhaigal – the thorny subject of family members killing their own for the sake of honour – more room to breathe.
The genesis of the project harks back to 2014, when Netflix announced it planned to invest in regional Indian movies, albeit mainly romance and love stories more in the vein of an Indian version of Paris I Love You or Valentine’s Day. It's therefore quite a leap from Netflix’s originally promised films to the intense half-hour shorts of Paava Kadhaigal.
However what makes it so watchable is that the profound pain of the victims – and the perpetrators – is so nimbly and thoughtfully handled by Menon and his co-directors – something that’s especially important given that traditionally, Indian audiences traditionally escape their own harsh realities by heading to cinema halls to watch valiant heroes and beautiful leading ladies.
What’s more, there is much bravery on the part of both Netflix and the cast in inviting audiences to watch one of the country’s more iconic actresses drown a child.
