Thulavarsham (1976)

It's while watching these earliest films from Sridevi's career as the leading lady that I begin processing and understanding the impact that she had for decades. Not that her later films are lesser or something, but she was doing all of this at 13? 13? I wasn't even acting like myself when I was 13, and look at this woman. I know that's an idiotic comparison to make, but I'm sorry, my brain stops thinking clearly when confronted with the magnitude of Sridevi's prowess. Just go and watch the 'Swapnadanam' video on YouTube, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Otherwise, the film is a pretty standard take on the evil urban vs pure rural settings drama that was pretty popular I suppose around this time. It managed to keep my interest till the very end, probably more because of the actors and less because of the story itself, which was pretty predictable on top of being melodramatic. I actually almost fell asleep right at the final scene, and to be honest, I feel sleepy just thinking about it now. Yes, I yawned. I hope you're yawning too now, reading this, because it'll prepare you for what's going to happen if you watch this movie.

A semi-rewarding experience for the Sridevi DHFs- for the rest of you uncultured folks, not so much. 

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