No warranty, No guarantee!

Mookuthi Amman (மூக்குத்தி அம்மன், Nose-ringed Goddess, Tamil; 2020)

This movie is obviously a bashing against BJP's imminent entry into Tamil Nadu politics. Since the 1930s, Tamil Nadu politics had been secular (read anti-Hindu). From the time of EV Ramasamy and subsequent leaders of the state, they have always claimed to be atheists. They all fell prey to the British's devious 'divide and rule' strategy. They also subscribe to the now-defunct 'Aryan invasion theory'. They believe that the story of Ramayana is the story of Northerners (Aryans and Brahmins), of King Rama, colonising the Dravidians led by Ravana. What they fail to realise is that Ravana actually hails from the region around modern-day Uttar Pradesh, hence from the North too. He usurped the Lanka kingdom from his half brother, Kuberan.

EV Ramasamy had always been sceptical of the Hindu hierarchical order. His idea was the Brahmins were out to aggrandise themselves and vilify the lower castes. Being a social activist, he started the Self Respect Movement and worked hard towards women empowerment, caste equality, anti-Hindi rhetorics and opposition against Brahminical dominance in Tamil Nadu. Subsequent leaders in breakaway parties also followed the trend.

Hence, the idea of a Hindu friendly party working hand-in-glove with a splinter party in Tamil Nadu gets most of the politicians here hot under their collars. Even though they claim to be irreligious in their outlook, they are often seen to be wooing and appeasing their Muslim and Christian vote banks.

This film may remind viewers of Hindi movies, PK and OMG - where the gullibility of devotees and the shenanigans of godmen are laid open. It tells the depressing story of Engel Ramasamy, a freelance reporter. His family comprises his single mother and three younger sisters. His father had run away soon before the last sister was born. Ramasamy crosses path with a powerful sage, and pretty soon he realises that he needs to fight the sage to save a big plot of land that belongs to his family temple. And the Goddess of the temple manifests in front of Ramasamy to be of aid.

Many viewers are unhappy that the filmmakers decided to paint all Godmen with the same brush - of being power-crazy, devious and cheats. We get an eerie feeling that references are made to Nithyanda (of the 'me-in-you' and 'you and me' fame) as well as to Sadhguru where his Cauvery Calling collection is queried, and alleged tribal land is misappropriated. Ram Baba Dev is not spared either, for his business ventures are also mentioned. There is a scene of a possible conversion of a minor which suddenly gets forgotten in the hullabaloo of the story. A clip of a pastor engaging in spiritual healing got snipped as the director felt it would offend the Christians. What about the sentiments of Hindus, they say? Even though the Goddess proclaims Jesus to be her friend, she becomes 'jealous' when Ramasamy's mother seems keener to visit Thirupathi than her! Is it a coincidence that the protagonist's name combines Ramasamy (EV@Periyar) and Engel (of Frederich Engels who co-wrote 'The Communist Manifesto' with Karl Marx)?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.