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Aruvi (Tamil அருவி; 2017)

This is a compelling sociopolitical drama which must have surely been written by a card-carrying member of the socialist/communist party. Who else would paint such a bleak picture of modern life and the self-defeating trappings that line every aspect of our lives? Human values take a back seat. A pre-set path is made for us to follow and feel contended. Any deviation from the norm is frowned upon. The whole purpose of life is to promote consumerism, be awed by materialism and to fatten the multinational conglomerates.

This is an absorbing saga of a young girl, Aruvi, who acquired HIV most unconventionally - at the roadside coconut vendor as she savoured a probably contaminated freshly cut coconut! Long story short - she falls seriously ill, is diagnosed, hurled abuses of promiscuity and is chased away by the previously loving family. She wanders around, living with friends and working menial jobs. At every corner, the men in her life misbehaved. They demand sexual favours in return for help.

Lakshmi Gopalaswamy
Aruvi befriends a fellow HIV victim, a transexual, Emily. Together they plot an act of appropriate revenge to expose the hypocrisy of the society, the wolves in sheep's clothing in community and the foolhardy of the people in the business of peddling news who are more interested in sensationalism than actually highlighting the plight of the people.

 Aruvi and Emily walk into a television studio in the pretext of exposing the plight of the society's transgender population. Cleverly, they hoodwinked a self-absorbed talk show compère and took the studio staff hostage at gunpoint. 

 It takes a swipe at a TV reality-justice talk show of the Tamil little screen,  'Solvathellam Sathyam'. It works along the same line as 'Jeremy Kyle Show' and 'Jerry Springer Show' where people wash dirty linen in public. The movie, even though, uncredited is supposed to be based on an Egyptian 2011 film, 'Asmaa' as alleged by some critics. It is obviously not copied as we will find out later.

A refreshing story with completely fresh faces and a debutante director. 4.5/5.

 Also, see: on Asmaa https://www.riflerangeboy.com/2019/07/walk-mile-in-her-shoes.html 




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Location: Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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