Where are the modern compositions which speak of today? Even as I write, dead bodies have been found floating on the Ganga. My response to it cannot always be Tulsidas or Kabir.
Seththumaan (2021) | Neelam Productions
The young and bright Kumaresan is telling his beloved grandfather Poochaiyappa about his first day at school. The teacher asked me if I ate all kinds of meat and sniggered when I told him I did, the boy says. Grandfather, is it wrong to eat meat? The ones who eat and relish meat do so discreetly, Poochiyappa replies.
This exchange, marked by innocence from the boy and a deeply lived understanding of hierarchy and hypocrisy from the grandfather, is one of the ways in which the Tamil movie
Seththumaan explores the realities of caste and the normalisation of violence. Tamizh’s feature film debut is set in rural Tamil Nadu and revolves around a handful of sharply etched characters. The 116-minute movie reveals the implicit and explicit ways in which caste divisions operate and touch every aspect of life, including what we eat.