| Maadaathy | |
| Producer: | Leena Manimekalai & Elango Raghupathy |
| Screenplay: | Leena Manimekalai Rafiq Ismail Yavanika Sriram |
| Starring: |
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| Music: | Karthik Raja |
| Editing: | Thangaraj Palanivel |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Tamil |
| Runtime: | 90 minutes |
Maadathy,[1] also known internationally as Maadathy: An Unfairy Tale, is a 2019 Indian-Tamil language folklore drama film directed by Leena Manimekalai. The film stars Ajmina Kassim, Patrick Raj, Semmalar Annam and Arul Kumar in the lead roles.
The film received a positive critical response and was premiered at the Busan International Film Festival 2019.[2] The film later got released in the OTT platform Neestream globally on 24, June 2021.[3]
The film is set in the backdrop of a river which acts as a symbol of the oppressor and the oppressed. The river is a way out, for the lead character a Dalit, Yosana; a liberation from the blind realities of caste. India is a land of Subaltern deities. Each deity has a unique legend, and these legends are often interwoven with sociohistoric tropes of India. Puthirai vannaar is an 'unseeable' Dalit caste group, in southern India. Their forced-occupation is to wash clothes of other Dalits, the dead and the menstruating women. This film is a tale about a young girl who grew up in Puthirai vannaar caste group and how she came to be immortalized as their local deity, Maadathy.
A critic from The News Minute reviewed "It's rare to see a film where the male body is subjected to the female gaze".[5] The Cinema Express wrote, "Remarkably exudes the power of cinema, of storytelling that is poignantly reflective of a society where legends of sin circle and haunt our deities".[6]