Abhayam Thedi (1986)

I have been trying very hard to come up with something to write about this movie, but really, I just have one question- why does this even exist? Who thought making this was a good idea? Has anyone in the last 34 years even enjoyed this movie? Actually no, I can imagine all the lovely people who would have gotten a major kick out of this movie- Hindu supremacists, from the closeted to the ones out in the open. That's right, this movie is so disgustingly anti-minority that if you like it, you really need to self-reflect. But well, self-reflection is not really Hindu supremacists' strong suit.

Moving on though, the movie glorifies Hindu culture and traditions to the point where it actually feels unrealistic, to the point where even suspension of disbelief doesn't work. Why exactly is Miranda (Shobana) so sure that whatever her Hindu family does and believes is right? She even agrees to be referred to as Meera instead of Miranda, just because Miranda is too Christian a name. Okay then. Plus her mother's characterisation is just so bad, I don't think I even have the words to describe it. She is nothing but a caricature who doesn't get even the most basic humane treatment by the writers. And it's not like the writers aren't capable of humanising their characters- literally everyone, except the Christians of course, is fleshed out and written as "people", not stereotypes. Which angers me even more, because it could have been a very interesting film, but it's nothing but a boring propaganda machine. I expected more honestly, especially from a movie where Shobana's name is Miranda.

Also, spoiler but Shobana dies in the end, which made me lose any last remaining bits of respect for the movie. The symbolism of that death is too toxic to even get into, and all I want is to slap the people responsible for this horrible, horrible movie. Definitely on my list of "movies I hate", and with good reason.