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Finding sense in what the young girl says, the people embrace her lead. However, being irked by the listlessness of the ‘panchayat’ and with some encouragement from her city-educated beau Thiyagu (a wonderfully restrained Aravind Swami) and another uncle (Janakaraj), she steps up and suggests her opinion. After her father dies, when the people consult her for advice, she directs them towards her timid uncle. She is naive – of how ruthless the establishment can be, but also of her own ability to lead people. Indira is not a know-it-all she is not a snowflake. Essentially, Indira is the kind of film we should be getting when films are marketed as being “women-centric” or batting for “female empowerment”. That way, Indira is also an honest female empowerment film. But she sticks to her stand, educates children on equality, challenges the establishment, fights her fears and inner demons, and when the opportunity to draw revenge presents itself, she champions peace – as it rightly should be. Later, she witnesses her father (Nasser) being stabbed to death, and when she takes his place to fight for her the oppressed people, she too gets physically harassed and assaulted. Growing up, she is unable to spend time with her high-school friend from the other village, outside of school. As a kid, Indira (the titular character played by Anu Hasan in a fantastic debut) along with her family is forced out of their village, along with other ‘lower caste’ people. It is a firm tale of how compassion can win over discrimination. It is unbelievable that a film like Indira does not find its way into conversations about pioneering Tamil films. In a brief moment of apparent silence, the words “ Saadhigal Illaiyadi Paappaa, Kula Thaazhchi Uyarchi Sollal Paavam ” (There is no caste, dear child, to discriminate is sin) by Subramania Bharati, appear over the cold black screen, only to fade as we hear the antagonist Kotamarayar (played brilliantly by Radha Ravi) exclaiming “ Yevan ya sonnadhu saadhi illanu ?” (Who dares say there is no caste?) A quarter of a century later (the film released on May 11, 1995), people still wrestle with that question on every platform.
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Women cry, cattle moo in fear, there are roaring explosions, and children wail. Indira, the debut directorial of Suhasini Mani Ratnam, opens with sounds of chaos over a black screen.