Pariyerum Perumal - where it strikes and where it disappoints

I went to see Pariyerum Perumal entirely swayed by comments on Facebook. By the time I did go, the film had reached a cult status, the kind that you can't cast a stone on. But like every other thing approached with skyrocketing expectations, this one disappointed too. The movie is a powerful narrative piercing the conscience of an urban milieu which often sweeps caste under its carpet and brings it out at opportune moments. Anybody who has watched the movie cannot come away unmoved. But I did feel that the movie, having very clearly set the ground for elucidating the issue, should have gone towards a solution. Anybody who has been following the news channels closely in the recent past would readily agree with the opening line that caste and religion have often been against humanity. But if you ask, what next. What shall we do about it, the movie does not provide clear answers. The end to me was very insipid. The recurrent theme, that the oppressed are not going to take this anymore lying down is a worthy first step. But is that enough? Although in jest, the movie shows the protagonist using underhand methods to pass English papers in 10th and 12th board exams. I fear this might prove counter-productive. That it lends ammunition for others to believe that people who have risen up from the lower echelons would have used deceptive means on the way. On another note, for a movie so bold in its approach and theme, it still needed to have a fair-skinned heroine. That was another disappointment. Why is the Tamil film industry so obsessed with fair-skinned heroines when that is not the skin tone of the majority? I understand that creating a movie is an enormous exercise of pain and labour. But having set the stage, a fertile ground to strike a deathly blow, the director finishes with a pinch. That is the disappointment.