Maadathy

The film is set against the backdrop of a river which acts as a symbol of the oppressor and the oppressed. The river is a way out, for the lead character a Dalit, Yosana; a liberation from the blind realities of caste. India is a land of Subaltern deities. Each deity has a unique legend, and these legends are often interwoven with sociohistoric tropes of India. Puthirai vannaar is an ‘unseeable’ Dalit caste group, in southern India. Their forced-occupation is to wash clothes of other Dalits, the dead and the menstruating women. This film is a tale about a young girl who grew up in r caste group and how she came to be immortalized as their local deity, . A critic from reviewed “It’s rare to see a film where the male body is subjected to the female gaze”. wrote, “Remarkably exudes the power of cinema, of storytelling that is poignantly reflective of a society where legends of sin circle and haunt our deities”.