Gayathri (1977)
This must be one of the last few movies where Rajnikanth, the unmistakable movie icon of India, who could do no wrong, appears in a negative role. Soon after 1977, as soon as he started winning awards, playing villainous characters, with which he began his career, became a part of a bygone era. After Murattu Kalai (1980), there was no turning back. He springboarded to a demigod status performing gravity-defying earth shattering stylistic stunts!
In this movie, he is cast as the villain opposite the then hero who at his tail end of his career, Jay Shanker. It is interesting to see Rajni at the receiving end of the feisty duel. This is not your typical Tamil drama with the usual forbidden love and opposition, and finally, love conquers all. It is an adaptation of a novel written by a Sujatha and is described as a psychological thriller with some necessary elements for Indian viewers like comedy sketches (by Venniradai Murthy) and fist fights. To keep the artistic feel into the movie, the filmmakers must have decided to make the film in black and white even though colour rolls rolled out from Kollywood since the mid-60s.
Gayathri's (Sridevi) parents are so happy that a well to do, honest young entrepreneur, Rajaratnam (Rajnikanth), asks for her hand in marriage. After a hasty agreement, the wedding takes place with his widowed sister representing his deceased parents. With a heavy heart, the bride leaves her father's abode to live with her husband.
At her new home, Gayathri finds a particular mystery that surrounds all the occupants. The brother and sister team (Rajaratnam and Sarasa) are helped by an old chef (SA Asokan) who speaks with sexual innuendoes, a hard-drinking timid village girl who is a helping hand and a rude no-nonsense limping Gurkha guard who keeps his two eyes focused on Gayathri at all times. Sarasa, who claimed to be a widow, is now seen dressing up with captivating modern clothes complete with make-up, Vermillion and flowers. And she drinks like a fish! There seems to be no barrier or hierarchy between bosses and workers. Her movements are kerbed, and her letters are vetted. All these shock Gayathri. Why is she treated like a prisoner? Why is it that the wallpaper of the bedroom has pictures of faces on it? It looks like it has eyes. Why are there screams from the outdoor post shack and why is the cabin out of bounds?
Why has Rajaratnam changed? He and his sister have just the most straightforward answer for all the things that she sees wrong in the family. Sarasa is dressing up in the house because she became a widow at a young age and she only acts as a widow for the society. The outdoor post is dangerous as there is a stray cobra there. But then why does the maid still go there? She starts seeing things that proved wrong or are only laughed off by everyone as a figment of her imagination.
Gayathri sneaks out in the thick of the night, disguised, to discover a deranged lady in the outdoors post claiming to be her husband's first wife. She later witnesses the guard burying the woman's body in the compound! Did he murder her? That was her last straw. Her attempt at sneaking out, however, failed, and a stricter house-arrest is imposed.
Gayathri pens her misadventures in a notebook and sneaks it into an old paper stack when the old newspaper man made his rounds. By the twist of fate, the note gets to the hand of a writer, Chellappa (Murthi) and his friend Ganesh (Jay Shankar).
This must be one of the last few movies where Rajnikanth, the unmistakable movie icon of India, who could do no wrong, appears in a negative role. Soon after 1977, as soon as he started winning awards, playing villainous characters, with which he began his career, became a part of a bygone era. After Murattu Kalai (1980), there was no turning back. He springboarded to a demigod status performing gravity-defying earth shattering stylistic stunts!
In this movie, he is cast as the villain opposite the then hero who at his tail end of his career, Jay Shanker. It is interesting to see Rajni at the receiving end of the feisty duel. This is not your typical Tamil drama with the usual forbidden love and opposition, and finally, love conquers all. It is an adaptation of a novel written by a Sujatha and is described as a psychological thriller with some necessary elements for Indian viewers like comedy sketches (by Venniradai Murthy) and fist fights. To keep the artistic feel into the movie, the filmmakers must have decided to make the film in black and white even though colour rolls rolled out from Kollywood since the mid-60s.
Gayathri's (Sridevi) parents are so happy that a well to do, honest young entrepreneur, Rajaratnam (Rajnikanth), asks for her hand in marriage. After a hasty agreement, the wedding takes place with his widowed sister representing his deceased parents. With a heavy heart, the bride leaves her father's abode to live with her husband.
At her new home, Gayathri finds a particular mystery that surrounds all the occupants. The brother and sister team (Rajaratnam and Sarasa) are helped by an old chef (SA Asokan) who speaks with sexual innuendoes, a hard-drinking timid village girl who is a helping hand and a rude no-nonsense limping Gurkha guard who keeps his two eyes focused on Gayathri at all times. Sarasa, who claimed to be a widow, is now seen dressing up with captivating modern clothes complete with make-up, Vermillion and flowers. And she drinks like a fish! There seems to be no barrier or hierarchy between bosses and workers. Her movements are kerbed, and her letters are vetted. All these shock Gayathri. Why is she treated like a prisoner? Why is it that the wallpaper of the bedroom has pictures of faces on it? It looks like it has eyes. Why are there screams from the outdoor post shack and why is the cabin out of bounds?
Why has Rajaratnam changed? He and his sister have just the most straightforward answer for all the things that she sees wrong in the family. Sarasa is dressing up in the house because she became a widow at a young age and she only acts as a widow for the society. The outdoor post is dangerous as there is a stray cobra there. But then why does the maid still go there? She starts seeing things that proved wrong or are only laughed off by everyone as a figment of her imagination.Gayathri sneaks out in the thick of the night, disguised, to discover a deranged lady in the outdoors post claiming to be her husband's first wife. She later witnesses the guard burying the woman's body in the compound! Did he murder her? That was her last straw. Her attempt at sneaking out, however, failed, and a stricter house-arrest is imposed.
Gayathri pens her misadventures in a notebook and sneaks it into an old paper stack when the old newspaper man made his rounds. By the twist of fate, the note gets to the hand of a writer, Chellappa (Murthi) and his friend Ganesh (Jay Shankar).
To cut the story short, Ganesh does his own snooping to discover that Rajaratnam and his motley crews are blue-film makers and distributors. Without Gayathri's knowledge, she was an unaware participating actor in their latest venture, taken with a concealed camera through the walls of the bedroom!
The much-criticised part of the film is the climax when the treacherous team records a rape scene of Gayathri. Gayathri commits suicide before she could be 'deflowered' by a man unsanctioned by the Gods and elements of Nature. I suppose the storyteller must have decided to end the story in the most Hindu way using the Vedic scriptures as his guide. A man can do all the unholy things, but the woman must stay faithful to one man, only one man. This must have been the rationale of the practice of suttee in medieval India. Besides the social stigma and economic burden of being an unproductive member of the society, the method must have worked well to confiscate the property of the deceased with no kin to claim ownership. The supposed sacrifice of the wife also, it seems, helps to transfer credits to the husband to offset his misdeeds or karma in his next life! That is just my impression!
The much-criticised part of the film is the climax when the treacherous team records a rape scene of Gayathri. Gayathri commits suicide before she could be 'deflowered' by a man unsanctioned by the Gods and elements of Nature. I suppose the storyteller must have decided to end the story in the most Hindu way using the Vedic scriptures as his guide. A man can do all the unholy things, but the woman must stay faithful to one man, only one man. This must have been the rationale of the practice of suttee in medieval India. Besides the social stigma and economic burden of being an unproductive member of the society, the method must have worked well to confiscate the property of the deceased with no kin to claim ownership. The supposed sacrifice of the wife also, it seems, helps to transfer credits to the husband to offset his misdeeds or karma in his next life! That is just my impression!
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