Seemaraja himself is a rather conflicted character, it seems. Her major contribution is to scowl every now and then, and exclaim, “Thu theri!” Because women must fight only women? While on the topic of women, I’m not sure what Simran, playing a mean woman called Kaleeshwari, saw in this film, and in her own character. You have to ask though - is she really empowered if her response to being threatened by a bunch of men is to wear that familiar look of innocent bewilderment, as our hero arrives just in time to rescue her? The one time she uses her skills - and by that time, you’re positively begging her to - she uses it against another woman. Thirumba thirumba vandhutte iruppom.” It is quite possible that director Ponram could defend the film by pointing out how they have empowered Selvi by portraying her as a PT teacher, and showing her train in silambam. He still manages to say, “Pasanga Phoenix paravai madhiri. Sivakarthikeyan has been questioned about his views on stalking, and I imagine these questions will continue after this film - even if it’s not as horrible as in Remo. The scene’s as funny as a burning orphanage. These three women are so unattractive apparently that the noble Seemaraja comments, “Un moonu pondaatiya Telex-ay paaka maataan.” Telex is one of his two horses.Įventually, Kanakku gets a fourth wife too, and charmingly names her Jajak because Jak is already taken, remember? Seemaraja is also the sort of film in which a fat woman comes running and Imman utilises an elephant’s trumpeting as BGM in a bid to get us laughing. Meanwhile, his friend, Kanakku (Soori, who’s rarely funny), is polygamous and has three wives he calls Jil, Jung, and Juk because he finds their real names to be too complicated. It’s evident when she, Seemaraja’s object of desire, is referred to by the words ‘kattai’ and ‘kaththi’. For a large part of the film, Selvi (Samantha) is less a woman, and more an object Seemaraja wishes to attain.
Films like Seemaraja don’t even care to make it hard to levy these accusations. Seemaraja also champions a familiar evil in Tamil cinema: Objectification of women. This unhealthy adoration of bloodline is discomfiting, and I almost felt empathetic for Kannan. One of Kannan’s aides points out more than once that no matter what he does, he will never be able to wrest the title of ‘Raja’ from Seemaraja. It may not have made me so uncomfortable had this idea - the butcher vs royalty - not been a running theme in the film.
Towards the end, when Seemaraja looks to put him in his place, it’s rather revealing that he chooses to insult him about his former line of work. The villain - who hails from a rival village called Singampatti - is a butcher called ‘Karikadai’ Kannan, who, with the help of his devious wife (Simran), has plotted his way into wealth and power. This is well in keeping with his inconsistent behaviour, which we will delve into a little later. A passing scene establishes that he is progressive enough to dislike people who bow to him, but not so progressive that he will reject their sycophancy. Seemaraja (Sivakarthikeyan) is the successor of a royal family, and everybody reverentially calls him ‘Raja’. So, where do we begin? Seemaraja’s inexplicable pride for its eponymous protagonist’s lineage is a good place to begin from.
If we are indeed going to be bombarded with some of these overused, problematic ideas over and over again, well then, it may not be such a futile exercise to problematise these films over and over again. Why even be annoyed by the romanticisation of nobility and aristocracy? Why get frustrated by the objectification of women? You also have to wonder: Are the makers oblivious to these problems? Or more alarmingly, do they perhaps care, and yet wilfully - in the interest of furthering stardom - include them as necessities? Director Ponram clearly seems to operate with a fair sense of conviction on what makes successful rural films. Sometimes, it’s tempting to put your hands up in resignation, and stop analysing films like Seemaraja. Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Samantha, Soori, Simran
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