A still from Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal. (Photo: Twitter/VigneshShivN) The trailer of Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal was sort of a shocker. It showed two independent and seemingly well-read, modern women fighting with each other over a man. Even though this has been a common theme of most of our movies and daily soap operas, it was hard to believe that this dated and problematic love triangle is being played among Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in their upcoming film.
One cannot simply argue that this film shouldn’t be taken seriously as it’s just for fun. You know it’s just a comedy. Well, we can digest a film like this coming from Santhanam (Dikkiloona for example), but not from this trio. Why? Because these three are among the handful of leading stars that have shown to possess progressive, liberal views coupled with significant emotional intelligence both on and off the screen. In their own individual capacity, each of them has stood out from the crowd by the way they have resisted society’s old ideas of ideal persons in movies and their lives.
About a decade ago, actor Vishal had played the role of an entitled Casanova in Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai. His character wants multiple options in everything so that he could pick the best of the lot. And that philosophy even extends to choosing his life partner. But, never for once does he turn the gaze on himself. While he auditions a bunch of women in the name of love to take the privileged position of his partner, he doesn’t once wonder why he deserves only the best in everything? It’s most likely because of the sense of entitlement that comes with being simply a man from a well-off family.
Fast forward 12 years, we have Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal. Judging from the trailer and teaser, it seems Vijay Sethupathi’s character Rambo is courting two women at the same time. And when he gets caught by his girlfriends, he simply confesses to being in love with both of them and his desire to marry both of them. We also see Rambo enjoying the benefits and privileges of dating two women at the same time. And then we also see these women competing hard against each other to win over the undivided attention of the man they are in so much love with.
Hopefully, director Vignesh Shivan will have a good explanation when we watch the movie, as to why Rambo deserves such kind of special treatment? And why do these two beautiful, strong and independent women decide to stay and fight to be in a relationship with this man even after finding out about his adultery?
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Nayanthara and Samantha are fierce symbols of women’s agency in our film fraternity. And it feels like a sore thumb to see them compete in a dance-off to Two Two Two song to win the admiration of a man, who clearly cannot commit and devote himself to either one of them. Does this film reflect the aspirations and desires of today’s modern women? Or is it just a wild dream of a man that perpetuates the undue expectations of a woman being more forgiving in a relationship? Or Vignesh Shivan has come up with something totally clever that flips this love triangle on its head and surprises us?
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