Spoilers ahead…
At some level, you have to applaud the mere existence of Prakash Kovelamudi’s Inji Iduppazhagi. For one, it is heroine-oriented – given the functioning of the Tamil and Telugu industries (the film is a bilingual), that’s a little like switching on a television news channel and finding in-depth coverage of cities not named Mumbai and New Delhi. But more importantly (and impressively), this heroine is plus-sized, around 90 kgs – that shape is usually found on comediennes who are cast just so that the script can make a few easy fat jokes. Even better, Sweety (Anushka Shetty) doesn’t seem too bothered. There’s no self-loathing. We always find her smiling, munching on jilebis whose curves match hers. Some kind of great movie could be built around this woman who could have been named just as easily for her nature as her dietary preferences.
But Inji Iduppazhagi isn’t it – the film just cannot make up its mind about what it wants to be. An English Vinglish-like empowerment saga about a woman who conquers a perceived disadvantage? A fairy tale about a rather pretty duckling turning into a graceful swan? A crusade against slimming centres that promise instant weight loss (through products containing toxic chemicals)? A drama about women’s obsession about their weight, in a culture that reserves its rewards for size-zero shapes? (Even prospective grooms demand slim women. Sweety asks one such man: What if she balloons to this size after marriage? Will he divorce her?) Or a rom-com twisted into a rectangle? Sweety likes Abhi (Arya), who appears interested in a super-slim colleague until another man expresses interest in Sweety, curves and all. All of this means that the film itself bulges at the seams with a lot of ungainly weight.
The rom-com quirks – time freezing when Sweety experiences an emotion, or Sweety’s fondness for fortune-cookie philosophy – seem the most interesting, but only on paper. The execution is a mess, a wild mix of moods and tones. At times, we are asked to laugh at Sweety the way we were asked to laugh at Bindu Ghosh’s antics. Other times, the film treats her with great dignity – she, and not Abhi, is the one who rejects the marriage proposal. Sometimes, we seem to be watching a horribly exaggerated comedy – the trainers at the slimming centre are buffoons. Other times, we are dropped into a cartoonish melodrama, replete with a moustache-twirling villain (Prakash Raj, playing this part for the 8403rd time.)
Everything’s made worse by the feeling that we’re watching a dubbed movie (lips don’t lie), with only a handful of sharp, locally flavoured quips yanking us out of the illusion. Sweety’s brother catches her looking up Abhi’s Facebook page after rejecting him. He asks, “Ninnu pona match-ukku ippo toss pottu enna prayojanam?” But the occasional smile can’t help a film that yo-yos between be-comfortable-with-who-you-are messages and an item number that gazes on a gold bikini on a writhing body that’s never seen the outside of a gym.
KEY:
- Inji Iduppazhagi = Slim-waisted one
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Venkatesh
November 28, 2015
Other times, we are dropped into a cartoonish melodrama, replete with a moustache-twirling villain (Prakash Raj, playing this part for the 8403th time.)
No wonder, this is a Telugu film with a few scenes additionally shot to give it a ‘bilingual’ feel.
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Jetlagged
November 28, 2015
“At times, we are asked to laugh at Sweety the way we were asked to laugh at Bindu Ghosh’s antics/ “Other times, the film treats her with great dignity”
That’s the feel I got watching the trailer. It was pretty much apparent that the dignity in 36 vayathiniley or English Vinglish was going to be missing. The authenticity in the title was missing in execution.
Will that not be apparent when reading the script? Or was it just under that hope that it would turn out good that you turn a blind eye and accept the script the way you see it instead of what it actually is?
All that weight gain and weight loss… May be it would have worked better if it was played by someone who we always have known to be of plus size and and whom we have “laughed” at…
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Reuben
November 28, 2015
A small aha moment when you mentioned Bindu Ghosh. Is that how you spell her name? Was she a bangla?
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Reuben
November 28, 2015
Or rather is she a bangla?
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Karthik
November 29, 2015
Ditto, on Bindu Ghosh. Never recall seeing her name spelt – have always heard the name in one word, as ‘Bindughosh’. When I see it as 2 words, I then realized that she’s perhaps not a Tamilian actress at all. Google, but no page on Wikipedia or anywhere about her. Just random credits assorted pages.
This is intriguing. She is synonymous with ‘rotund’ in Tamil films (not saying this as a funny thing, but just as a factual statement) and we have no idea which state she’s from, or anything more about her.
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brangan
November 30, 2015
Jetlagged: Will that not be apparent when reading the script?
Not necessarily. How can one accurately predict direction quality from the script? The trailer that you saw was the after-effect of a directorial effort, and while reading the script, it’s hard to know this is how it’s going to end up.
Reuben: Now that you mention it, I’m not sure. Always thought she was a Bangla — one of those settled in Madras.
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Apu
December 1, 2015
Umm… sorry to nitpick on a slightly off-topic Brangan: The word is Bengali (in English) or Bangali (in Bengali). Bangla is the language. In some cases, it is also applied to the place (Bengal) as Bangla/Banga is the Bengali word for Bengal. 🙂
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brangan
December 1, 2015
Apu: I was using it in the way we say “She’s Tamil” sometimes (and not necessarily “Tamilian”). But thanks for the clarification 🙂
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Venkatesh
December 1, 2015
Am I the only one who thought ‘Bindu Ghosh’ (or ‘Bindhukose’/’Bindhukosh’) was the male actor – the one who appears as Rajini’s friend in Thillu Mullu?
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Srinivas R
December 1, 2015
That male actor was gundu kalyanam.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
February 17, 2016
Cartoon : Inji Iduppazhagi
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