However, if you were to ask if the friendship continues, unfortunately, it doesn’t. Talking about Mayangukiral, Jeeva Sundari says, “Even in her most desperate times, her friend is the one who stands by her side. Kalpana is cheated by a lover and ends up having to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. Though Mayangukiral was made in the ‘70s and abortion is not illegal in India, it’s considered to be a taboo even today. Mayangukiral Oru Maadhu (1975) by SP Muthuraman, starring Sujatha in the lead role, is one such film.Īlthough the film takes a moralistic tone from the word go, it shows a beautiful bond between its lead character Kalpana (Sujatha) and her friend Revathy (Fatafat Jayalaxmi). However, there have been some films which have shown female friends as more than just a gaggle. However, she also points out that their roles had no meaning apart from this. This is an interesting piece of detail for us to notice and is very telling of the period in which this film was made,” she says. Now this meant that women were studying while being away from their homes, and these women were allowed to stay over at their friend’s place for the holidays. “In the film Adhe Kangal (1967), in one of the earliest scenes, Kanchana comes home with a group of her girlfriends and says that they will be staying with her for the vacation. Writer Archanaa Sekar adds that with time, female friendships on screen went beyond family circles.

Take for example the ‘Malligaye Malligaye’ song from the 1998 Tamil film Ninaithen Vanthai, in which Devayani and Rambha played sisters and sang about their would-be husband. In later years, too, this trend persisted. The early films, therefore, mainly showed friendships between sisters, mother and daughter and sometimes other relatives. “The ‘Athan… Ennathan’ song from Paava Mannippu has Savitri and Devika, who played sisters, but as the plot would have it, they grow together as friends, sharing their secrets, their love,” she points out. She notes that in most of A Bhimsingh’s films, a duet involving two women was a regular feature. This is true in real life and cinema, too, followed the same trajectory,” says Jeeva Sundari. When women started going out for their education, bonds were formed outside families. “In earlier days, when women were not allowed to leave their homes, having friends meant relatives and neighbours.

Viralukketha veekkam vadivelu comedy