Tamil film ‘Mayilaa’ is a tribute to ‘women whose lives and pain often remain unseen and unheard’

Semmalar Annam’s feature debut, led by Melodi Dorcas, is showing at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

There has been a healthy batch of Tamil films in recent years set in small towns or villages, exploring with skin-pricking authenticity the travails and joys of ordinary people. This list – Pariyerum Perumal, Koozhangal, Seththumaan, Angammal – now includes Mayilaa, the assured first feature from 35-year-old actor Semmalar Annam.

Premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 29-February 8), Mayilaa is a remarkable drama about a woman’s uncommon resilience in the face of poverty, abandonment and emotional distress. Mayilaa revolves around a young mother with a cruel husband and a beloved daughter who is suffering from severe constipation.
Poongodi (Melodi Dorcas), who is also known as Mayilaa for her devotion to the goddess Mayilatha, takes her child Sudar (Shudar Kodi) along for a new job: going door to door to sell mats. Inexperienced at this sort of thing, Mayilaa struggles to earn the money she needs to dress the goddess in a saree.

Semmalar Annam’s script weaves together Mayilaa’s predicament, her faith in the goddess, which frequently leads her into a trance, and Sudar’s stomach problems. The micro-perspective reveals a wider world of women who refuse to be cowed down by grim circumstance, and who create as well as sustain a community that helps deal with the perfidies of men.

Shot by Vinoth Janakiraman, Mayilaa has solid support: it’s edited by Sreekar Prasad, while the sound is by Anand Krishnamoorthi. The producer is Newton Cinema, which previously backed Paradise and Family, while the presenter is Pa Ranjith.

In an email interview, Semmalar Annam revealed the inspiration behind her film: “Prior to creating Mayilaa, I interviewed many women from rural communities to hear about their experiences. Their stories, the challenges they faced and the resilience with which they endured them, shaped the character of Mayilaa.” Here are edited excerpts from the interview.

Is Mayilaa autobiographical in any way, or based on anybody you know?

Mayilaa is not conceived around a single individual. As an actor, my work has taken me across many rural regions, where I had the opportunity to interact closely with women of different ages and backgrounds. Through these interactions, I became aware of their marital struggles, economic hardships, and unspoken suffering. These collective experiences shaped the writing of this film.

The narrative draws from several real-life incidents, such as women bearing cigarette burn marks from domestic abuse, making the story deeply rooted in reality. Mayilaa stands as a representation of countless such women whose lives and pain often remain unseen and unheard.

When went into creating Mayilaa’s character?

Many women in rural communities are married off in their teenage years without a true understanding of marriage or its consequences. Owing to the deep-rooted stigma surrounding separation and divorce, they often endure toxic relationships in silence, with little possibility of escape.

Mayilaa is one such woman, married too young and forced to live with an abusive husband. The constant violence suppresses her inner child, yet her spirit refuses to fade. Like a resilient child, she draws strength from her devotion to Mayilatha, which becomes the driving force that helps her move forward.

As she journeys through life with her child, Mayilaa strives to reclaim the parts of herself she has long buried. Innocent yet perceptive, intense and powerful, she is filled with zeal and an unyielding desire to pull herself out of the depths and rediscover who she truly is.

Mayilaa goes into a trance when the goddess appears before her, or when she is distressed. The film has a spiritual as well as a secular explanation for her condition.

My father is an atheist, while my mother and other relatives are believers, which allowed me to grow up exposed to two very different worldviews. From a young age, I had witnessed women entering trance-like states during rituals, and it often frightened me. My father once explained that these women were releasing long-suppressed and unexpressed emotions, and that the trance was simply a channel for emotional release.

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