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05 Dec 2025, 5:57 am
Angammal(3.5 / 5) Angammal Movie Review:
Freedom. It is quite an interesting beast because everyone wants it, but somehow they are tuned to keep it caged and away from others who might not have it. This dichotomy is very telling of the human mind and its vagaries. There is always someone who has more freedom than you, and someone who doesn’t have as much. It is supposed to be an absolute unit, but there are enough caveats in freedom to allow oppression of some kind to be perpetuated through avenues like patriarchy, misogyny, and simple conditioning. Director Vipin Radhakrishnan’s Angammal is one such film that shows how exercising freedom always comes at a cost in a society that values conformity.
Director: Vipin Radhakrishnan
Cast: Geetha Kailasam, Saran Sakthi, Bharani, Thendral Raghunathan, Mullaiyarasi
Angammal (Geetha Kailasam) is a maverick matriarch who lives life on her own terms. She rides around her dusty old village on her rickety moped, delivering milk to all the villagers. She has a set of friends who sit around and make fun of people walking by. She dotes on her granddaughter, but wags her acerbic tongue at her daughter-in-law. She doesn’t show outward emotions to her wayward elder son, Sudalai (Bharani), and pours all of it on her second son, Pavalam (Saran Sakthi), who is a doctor. Basically, she has stopped mothering her firstborn, but never allowed the second son to wean off. This is wonderfully reflected in the way she asks Sudalai if Pavalam is angry with her, even though it’s been ages since she even had a decent conversation with the former. The irony isn’t missed by Sudalai, who is a silent spectator to all that unfolds in front of him. But one fine day, when Angammal is forced to live life on someone else’s terms, all hell breaks loose.
Now, these terms aren’t something that might seem too exacting on Angammal. Pavalam wants his future in-laws to see his mother as a woman keeping up with modernity, and not someone who shies away from wearing a blouse. Angammal, who has never worn a blouse under her saree, doesn’t want to do it simply because… she doesn’t want to do it. But will society, and her own family, allow her that freedom of choice? It might seem a simple ask, but director Vipin, who has adapted Perumal Murugan’s short story, Kodithuni, asks bigger questions about society’s inherent need to have people conform to the majority. Remember Kamal Haasan’s rant around the release of Virumaandi , where the biggest truth about the cultural fabric of a society is its dynamism? Similarly, with every woman, including her own friends, adorning a blouse, the pressure gets to Angammal.
Things go down a spiral when the concept of beauty takes a new form in her life. It makes her wonder if she isn’t beautiful. It makes her think whether she would be accepted only if a lifestyle change were incorporated. Angammal, a queen in her own right, goes down a path of self-doubt. These scenes are wonderfully written and directed by Vipin, who fills them with enough levity that keep us engaged in a story of a 60-70-year-old woman, who doesn’t want to wear a simple blouse.
While the story is about the piece of clothing, Angammal is mainly about how the older generation is either left behind in the name of evolution or asked to undergo a drastic change to keep up. The film acts as a reminder of how such expectations are definitely an act of violence against the geriatric, who have done enough to deserve a life of rest. But it isn’t like they are whitewashed in Angammal . It is also shown how they force the next generation to dance to their whims and fancies, and the unresolved resentment in such families.
Angammal isn’t a perfect woman, but it is these imperfections that make her human. It is the way she treats her daughter-in-law, Sharada, that lays bare the bitterness in her heart. Of course, she is the product of her times, but the makers
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