Questioning regressive traditions
Novels, short stories, award-winning films and dramas have been made on the trial that shook the Namboodiri community out of its sense of complacency and forced thinkers in the community to re-examine some regressive traditions in their midst.
Prabha, former Head of the Department of Oriental Languages, Loyola College, Chennai, says that Thatri has been portrayed in many different ways in creative works inspired by the trial: as a prostitute who refuses to bow down to patriarchy; as a woman seeking revenge for the death of her young friend Arya, who was molested and killed by the very men who had abused her; as a young widow forced to seek solace elsewhere after the death of her aged husband and so on.
“I wanted to focus on Thatri’s courageous fight against the establishment.
Taya portrays her as a bold woman who seeks to avenge her friend Arya’s murder. Arya is the victim and not Thatri. But by naming each of the men, Thatri shook the system out of its false sense of righteousness. The story goes that the king was so shocked when she named 65 men that he had the trial stopped; he feared that his name too might feature on the list.” However, in the film, Prabha has chosen to portray the judge as the one who stops the trial as he fears for his reputation.
Film director G Prabha (standing) and cinematographer Sunny Joseph on the location of ‘Taya’, a film in Sanskrit
“I wanted to point out how cases involving abuse of women are handled by people in the judiciary. Often, it looks like it is the abused woman who goes on trial. Imagine Thatri’s courage in battling the hypocrisy of the men and the system that was trying her as a wayward woman. Slut shaming of women who dare take on the system is prevalent even now; it is one of the ways to silence women,” explains Prabha.
During the trial, the woman in question is referred to as a
sadhanam (an object). The director points out the objectification of women that continues to exist in many forms. “The trial lasted for six months and on July 13, 1905, Thatri and the men were found guilty. Eventually, she was ostracised and excommunicated, known as
brusht in Malayalam. No one knows what exactly happened to her after the trial. Nevertheless, this story deserves to be retold and remembered for the way Thatri fought relentlessly against injustice,” he believes.
Popular reviews
More
-
Review by Terence Ang 洪偉凱 ★★
Hindi ko nakita tite ni Sean de Guzman, ‘matic dagdag one star ‘yan!
But seriously, okay naman siya umarte, chaka lang gumawa ‘yung Joel Lamangan.
-
Review by Migs ½
Bakit ganito ang trato sa mga babae sa palabas na’to? Sobra silang objectified dito. At least yung ibang sexy films binigyan naman nila ng karakter yung mga stars nila. Dito wala eh, para lang silang props. Tsk tsk.
-
-
Review by Renielle ½
Basura
-
Review by Aravind M ★
The film tried to be raw, but while exploring a story raw and unique it misses its point in too mich indulgence in erotic scenes. For a point it feels fine but as the movie proceeds the film kinda misses its point, stumbling between being a erotic thriller and a crime thriller, the film makes a lot of mostakes like any other film which tries to attract the audience. If only they write it with more concentration towards the story to tell it honestly, theu would’ve made the same concept into a very unique thriller.
-
Review by arvin ½
vivamax really just be streaming shit from the bottom of the barrel
-
Review by Den Lebantino ★
Taya ang title nito pero napakanipis ng mga dahilan ng pagtaya sa pelikula.
Unang-una, paano naging ganun kakalat ang actions ni Sixto (Sean de Guzman)? Ayos lang yung bumigay sa tukso (I mean ayos as a trope in a film)—sa pera man o sa sex. Pero bakit thoughtless at impulsive ang indulgence? Walang bigat kay Sixto ang warning na ilegal ang pinapasukan nya. Oo, ilegal at hawak ng sindikato. Di man lang nagkaroon ng pagdadalawang isip nung pinili nyang maging savior ng isang prostitute na naging premyo nya sa pagtaya. Walang internal conflict at all. Ni hindi rin natakot pagbalik sa Maynila considering na pinaghahanap sya ng mga pulis. Paano sya umabot sa puntong itaya ang lahat eh ang goal…
-
Review by Michi ★
putanginang film to sinayang oras ko. 1 star para sa mga kanta.
-
Review by Ledif Canoy ★
This film has a lot of potential. The premise was exciting, and it was this plot that caught my attention. Overall, it is poorly-written in terms of the dialogue and sequences, bad arrangement of BGMs, no fcking chemistry between the characters with their horrible actings and ginawang easteregg ‘yung paulit-ulit na no. 69 sa script na napakacringe. Anw, I wasn’t expecting that an erotic softcore porn film thriller will turns out to be a crime thriller that includes guns, drugs, bloods and killings aside from illegal transactions based from the title itself bcoz I haven’t watched the trailer lol. Isa pa, kadiri ‘yung peanut butter scene wtf. Si Jela Cuenca lang ibangan ko haha.
-
-
Review by icel ½
kadiri
-
Review by 𝗆𝗂𝗅𝖾𝗌 ½
this is not what we meant when we said we wanted diversity in philippine cinema
-
Review by John Tawasil ★
«Cute ka pa naman, kaso tanga ka lang.»
A young man who is horny on main 24/7/365 makes a lot of very stupid decisions in a film that kind of ejaculates prematurely around 20 minutes in, segueing into a pointless sequence of events before going back to the plot (in equally idiotic fashion) and ending in something that, I’ll be honest, I kinda liked. There may be something in there about how higher education does not guarantee financial security and how this unfair disadvantage leads people to hustle and get into shady shit, but nothing goes anywhere.
The character writing in this film is non-existent; people are reduced to one or two things and nothing else, Horny student boy is…
-
Review by minimaltake ★½
Ang tema po ng viva this year ay kantutan?
Promoting Sanskrit
He decided to make it in Sanskrit as he felt that the language should be promoted along with other regional languages in India. “Namboodiris of Kerala were proficient in Sanskrit and I felt that the story had to be narrated in Sanskrit to do justice to it,” he says. Prabha’s first film
Ishti , opening film of the International Film Festival of India in Goa, was also in Sanskrit.
Nedumudi Venu and Anumol play the lead in
Taya. Prabha says that finding the right cast for the film was not easy as many actors find it difficult to speak Sanskrit. “Venu came to cinema through playwright Kavalam Narayana Panicker’s plays in Sanskrit and Malayalam. Hence, he was perfect for the film. Mohini and Sopanam Girish, also in the cast, were trained in the same school as Nedumudi’s. Then I chose veterans such as Nelliyode Vasudevan Namboodiri from the Kathakali stage as many of them are comfortable with Sanskrit. I had to dub the dialogues for some because they found it difficult to speak in Sanskrit and enact their character at the same time,” says the filmmaker.
Nedumudi Venu (left) plays the lead in ‘Taya’, a film in Sanskrit, directed by G Prabha
Margi Revathi, Uttara, Kathakali artiste Pallipuram Sunil, Babu Namboodiri and Dinesh Panicker are among the actors in the cast.
Prabha adds that the Bharatapuzha, the second longest river in Kerala, is an important character in the film. “During the trial, the accused woman is not allowed to stay in the
mana (traditional, ancestral homes of Namboodiris). She is lodged in a hut, located away from the main house. After she is expelled from the community, Thatri burns her hut, crosses the river and moves away from her old world,” explains Prabha.
Filmed by ace cinematographer Sunny Joseph, the movie was shot in Kodanadu Mana in Kunnamkulam, Brahmaswom Madom in Thrissur and Vadakumpattu Mana in Guruvayur. It is said that Thatri had stayed in Kodanadu Mana for some time.
Produced by Sree Gokulam Movies, the film is likely to be released on OTT in August.