Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: http://www.filmcompanion.in/article/magalir-mattum-movie-review
One of the best scenes in Magalir Mattum begins with a housewife — Subbulakshmi (Saranya Ponvannan) — speaking to a camera, making an ad. She dreams of becoming a beautician. But soon, reality beckons. An ailing (and complaining) mother-in-law whose bedpan needs to be emptied. A husband (Livingston) who does nothing but drink and sing Ilayaraja hits, with the preludes and interludes. I laughed — the man’s hilarious. Subbulakshmi, though, is not amused. (As we see later, she smiles while calling up friends, but the smile vanishes the instant she hangs up.) This scene is shot in what appears to be one unbroken take, but this isn’t about showmanship. This is about Subbulakshmi. She isn’t a movie character. You know her. You’ve seen women like her.
Magalir Mattum is about other women like Subbulakshmi: Gomatha (Oorvasi) and Rani (Banupriya). And one unlike them: as the credits say, “Ivargaludan Jyothika.” (And with them, Jyothika.) The latter plays Prabha, a documentary filmmaker who’s always dressed in tees and shirts and pants — clothes that tell us she’s not just a modern woman, she’s almost a man in the way she leads an unshackled life, doing her own thing. But the others, they are bound in chains. It’s partly the burden of patriarchy. (Rani’s husband, played by Nasser, says, “A woman should be kept in her place.”) But it’s also that they guilt themselves into a life within four walls, believing that the family would crumble if they so much as stepped out for a movie.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
mrinalnarayan
September 15, 2017
Haven’t watched the movie yet. The trailer didn’t impress me much. From your review, sounds like an underwhelming Visu + V.Sekar movie.
I am not sure whether 2D Entertainment make any amendments to the script or create an idea and look for a promising director like Bramma. Their products seem to come up with a black and white pattern -> 36 Vayathinile, Pasanga 2. Ppphhaa….
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Aadhy
September 15, 2017
Agree with Mrinalnarayan, a lot of our ‘feminist’ movies are strapped of any nuance. And regarding,
“Along with the perky heroine, a mother of two, who’s doing something very rare in Tamil cinema: finding a space for herself to shine, with the help of her husband’s production house.”
I have a problem here. Her space in both 36 vayadhinile and Magalir mattum is that of a de-glamorized, non-conventional heroine type, while Surya is seen dancing around, romancing Hansika, Shruthi, Keerthi and their likes. In other words, why does she have do all these soapy, preachy, broad dramas post-marriage when when she got to do regular, fun & mainstream stuff before. Isn’t it reinforcing the whole ‘purity’ notion that seems to be attached to only married females and not to husbands? Maybe it’s her personal choice and I respect that, but the whole buzz around her comeback, as if she’s heralding a new feminist movement in Tamil cinema is just a promotion gimmick. I’d call this as posturing rather than a genuine embodiment of the ideology, what with Jyothika thanking the Surya family at 36 Vayadinile audio release for letting her act in movies again, a career in which she was more successful than Surya at a point of time.
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Rahini David
September 15, 2017
So who will be the next generation’s Kamala Kamesh/ Saranya?
Any guesses?
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brangan
September 15, 2017
Rahini David: I vote for Hansika.
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Srinivas R
September 15, 2017
BR – Hansika will be next generation’s Kiran Rathod, playing mom to some bad lip sync actress in a comedy movie. My vote is for Aishwarya Rajesh for next gen Saranya, given the trajectory taken by female actors who can speak the language
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Venky
September 15, 2017
” a lot of our ‘feminist’ movies are strapped of any nuance” – +1
I had such trouble purging “Lipstick Under my Burkha” from my system precisely for this reason. They are stripped of nuance, quite literally and metaphorically, in the case of that abomination of a movie, “Lipstick under my Burkha”.
Take the climax scene in that movie. I couldn’t believe what the director Alankrita Shrivastava was smoking when she felt that a bunch of women smokin and talking about freedom as a dream could be the right way to end her saddeningly monochrome portrait of feminism.
I mean, doesn’t she know the context of women smoking in public and how it lead to the birth of PR industry, thanks to Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays? ( For the curious cats, I would strongly recommend watching Part-1 of the brilliant documentary “Century of the Self”)
These days, in the communities I am part of, any talk on “feminism” thankfully gets re-contextualized into a more humane label “feminine”- I prefer this term too as it goes beyond the binary. Men are equally frozen and trapped by not attending to their feminine selves here.
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Naveen
September 15, 2017
feels bad to see top stars like Bhanupriya, Oorvashi play second fiddle to Jo. thankfully they did not get Revathi to join this
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Rahini David
September 15, 2017
I vote for Parvathy.
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Akhilan
September 15, 2017
Aadhy: But I honestly do believe this the career path Jyothika wants to take right now… If I recall correctly, she quite candidly admitted to ‘over-acting’ in most of her earlier so-called ‘commercial’ movies in Koffee with DD (yeah I am guilty of watching that dreaded show on occasion…!!)… Therefore, it seems like this the space she sees herself occupy… Perhaps, in her eyes, it equates to ‘better’ roles and provides her with more scope to ‘perform’…
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Sifter
September 15, 2017
Women wearing pants/jeans being modern/being feminists/being independent/being liberated/being free- I always wonder how does anyone have such stupid,simple notion? Don’t they know to what lengths women go to look womanly in those thin/skinny/size 0-1 jeans? Don’t they know that the pockets in such jeans should be pocklets that can’t hold a credit card and basically are perfunctory without any real value?
And how is Jo doing something very rare in tamil cinema for a heroine. Her father-in-law’s has been outspoken on his views on married women and cinema. Her husband acts with heroines 20 years or more younger than him and she is now safely returning with lip-servicing women empowerment stories!
Movies like this do more harm than good. Because a lot of women have started to think this is the real meaning of their liberation.
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Kay
September 15, 2017
I vote for Aishwarya Ramesh too.
BR, is the birthday party invitation making you say that? 😛
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Kay
September 15, 2017
Aishwarya Rajesh
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brangan
September 15, 2017
Sifter: Her father-in-law’s has been outspoken on his views on married women and cinema.
What did he say?
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Jeyashree
September 16, 2017
My vote is for Lakshmi Menon…remember brangan’s hilarious comment on her makeover in rekka ? What was that …kamala kamesh in an evening gown???
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Srinivas R
September 16, 2017
Given the state of Tamil cinema, I think what Jo is able to do is unique. I don’t recall the last time an established female actor retired and came back to star in movies, where she is the reason for the movie being made. Usually they come back to play Akka and Amma to heroes they were dancing around with. All the criticism of the movie is valid, but I think this move from Jo and Surya is a step forward. A baby step maybe, but a forward move nevertheless
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Anu Warrier
September 16, 2017
Hangs head in dismay I read through half the review before I realised this was a new film and not the 1994 one! Talk about reading comprehension, or lack thereof!
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sanjana
September 16, 2017
This movie is getting mixed reviews.
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Raju
September 16, 2017
BR, Sifter: In 36 vayathinile press meet (I think, but could be audio release too), Sivakumar, while addressing the audience, said, after praising Jyothika, that husband and children are the first priority, and only then profession (cinema)comes. I just wondered if he would have said this to surya or karthi anytime during their films’ press meet.
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abishekspeare
September 16, 2017
Sir,
Are you coming to NIT trichy culturals festember?
If so I’d like to attend it
I’m from SSN
please…..
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
September 16, 2017
Jeyashree : Come to think of it. Aditi Rao H also looks like Uma Riyaz s long lost sister
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KayKay
September 16, 2017
“Sivakumar, while addressing the audience, said, after praising Jyothika, that husband and children are the first priority, and only then profession (cinema)comes”
Ah yes, nothing like giving that old musty cloth an airing every once in awhile.
Raju: I just wondered if he would have said this to surya or karthi anytime during their films’ press meet.
Apparently, what’s good for the goose is definitely not good for the gander in the household of Mr. “Jilu Jilu Gulu Gulu Charming Beautiful Bulbul”. I find everything he says these days damn near insufferable. He’s like the fucking uncle you actively avoid at functions because he’s gonna offload some flatulent piece of homily in your face.
And any role Jo Jo Jyothika takes on now will be airbrushed clean of anything remotely challenging, intriguing, controversial or heaven forbid, sensual or even erotic.
No empowerment to see here folks. Move along,.
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brangan
September 16, 2017
abhishekspeare: Yes, they have invited me to be a speaker. I am there next sunday.
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abishekspeare
September 16, 2017
thank you so much sir
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Sumesh
September 17, 2017
Haven’t seen the film, but as an outsider not clued in tamil cinema i have to ask this question. What’s the deal with Jyotika, she doesn’t have the looks or the acting chops. Why is it a news when she makes a comeback and continue the terrible work she has done before. I would rather take Nayanthara, Trisha etc, they at least seem to have stayed and still tries to get lead roles opposite heroes despite their acting skills questioned.
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Jeyashree
September 17, 2017
@sravishanker : uma riyaz…had not thought about it before. But yes south of her eyes ARH’s face does resemble uma. I’ve always thought ARH to be shobana’s youngest sib with an allergic condition on her lips and a much lesser aptitude for dance..
As for this movie it reminded me of pasanga 2 with its preachy broad strokes, with one note characters that needed to be rescued and shown the way by a one note saviour…if bullet riding and western clothes reflect empowerment then Punjabi women are the the forerunners…only their sex ratio is 700 females per 1000 males…
Even the old magalir mattum suffered from this – alienating the ‘saviour’ from the rest with those salwar kameez, fringe cut and the then trendy spectacles…two decades ago..
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
September 17, 2017
Readers of this blog must note that the film has a well placed, well executed dig on Remo.
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brangan
September 17, 2017
Jeyashree: if bullet riding and western clothes reflect empowerment then Punjabi women are the the forerunners.
Hahahahaha. Thank you for this Sunday morning laugh. Still laughing.
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niviblog
September 17, 2017
I saw a lot of comments on YouTube where people were thanking Surya for “allowing” Jyothika to act again. Sigh…. and people wanted her to do more “social” movies now that she is married with kids. So much for women empowerment.
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praneshp
September 17, 2017
Have a good time at NIT Trichy @brangan. A few of us there wasted more time on your blog than our books.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
September 17, 2017
Jeyashree : I couldnt get past your first para. Still gagging and laughing.
Was that meant to be sarcastic ? 🙂
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
September 17, 2017
Niviblog : Crisp and Caustic 🙂
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Jeyashree
September 17, 2017
@sravishanker: sarcastic?? that was almost a compliment for ARH 🙂
@ niviblog: true! I’m only wondering if they’ll keep ‘allow’ing if I want to add the likes of Parched or Lipstick under my burkha also to their list of ‘social’ movies..
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
September 17, 2017
Jeyashree :”with an allergic condition on her lips and a much lesser aptitude for dance”
Sure. Very complimentary 🙂
Reminds me of Dorothy Parker
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Anuja Chandramouli
September 17, 2017
And any role Jo Jo Jyothika takes on now will be airbrushed clean of anything remotely challenging, intriguing, controversial or heaven forbid, sensual or even erotic.
No empowerment to see here folks. Move along.
Couldn’t agree with you more KayKay!
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niviblog
September 17, 2017
Jeyashree : Haha! Would love to see that happen 😀
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Naveen
September 18, 2017
I can think of only Manju Warrier as someone who has retrieved her career respectfully after all the accidents in her life. is the Nivin Pauly-Manju movie coming anytime soon?
Nayan was smarter not to fall into the marriage-kids-divorce-comeback cycle, by escaping at the right moment
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Jeyashree
September 18, 2017
Parker !!!! For a crack sans ‘wise’?
Sravishanker: you made my day! I must do that more often..prolongs life they say 🙂
And what better sarcasm than brangan not uttering a word on jyothika’s performance, as if he were not even looking for it …and topped it all by giving her the consoling pat for attempting something ‘rare’…Coming from a person who hates to critique an attempt by its intention but instead prefers to comment on what was on screen finally, that is satire redefined for me…
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shaviswa
September 18, 2017
“Apparently, what’s good for the goose is definitely not good for the gander in the household of Mr. “Jilu Jilu Gulu Gulu Charming Beautiful Bulbul”. I find everything he says these days damn near insufferable. He’s like the fucking uncle you actively avoid at functions because he’s gonna offload some flatulent piece of homily in your face.”
Absolutely!! The guy gets on my nerves. He is also a mic freak…. the moment you extend the mic in his direction, the guy goes off on a lengthy monologue. Once while he was asked about someone dead, this guy talked the entire Karaikkal Ammaiyar song word to word. What was he trying to prove? That he had a phenomenal memory? That too at a condolence meet?
The guy recently spoke about call centers and how girls and boys were having free sex. He quoted something about sanitation workers finding a few kilos of disposed condoms in the drains of a call center. And he advised the college going girls to choose family over call center jobs…or somethign to that effect
Watch from 3:45 —
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Uncouth Village Youth
September 18, 2017
Why oh why did they have to do this to Bhanupriya ? I understand that Jo needed to look young, by surrounding herself with older women – yet this is unacceptable !. Except for Revathy, Urvashi, Nadya, Saritha, Radhika – all other yesteryear heroines should be banned from making a comeback ever. If a middle aged woman is ever required – go find a new one. Is it that difficult really ?
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
September 18, 2017
KayKay : Thanks to Shaviswa for directing me to your comment.
Life’s so harried (no – not ‘horrid’ mispronounced) nowadays I missed that gem of yours.
“Mr. “Jilu Jilu Gulu Gulu Charming Beautiful Bulbul “
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Srinivas R
September 18, 2017
+1 to everyone who finds Sivakumar insufferable
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Rahini David
September 18, 2017
“What’s the deal with Jyotika, she doesn’t have the looks or the acting chops. Why is it a news when she makes a comeback and continue the terrible work she has done before.”
Good Question. I think MOST people agree that Jyotika was never a wonderful actress. Some people claim she grew on them in the Kakka Kakka period. But I kind of felt that Jyothika was so vanilla that she can make even Pachakili Muthucharam seem boring. Mozhi, Vettaiaddu Villaiyaadu etc, suited her but she did not lend much to those movies with stellar performances.
Chandramukhi could have and should have been much better.
But the fact is that she is the Angelina Jolie(ex of Brad) or Beyonce(wife of JayZ) of Tamil film Industry. She became a consort of an actor who was reasonably famous and upcoming. For some reason such actresses who marry actors are given a golden glow that is not accorded to an actress who married a business man or even director or producer. So it is not a big deal that Nadiya came back. Nadiya did not come back as the protogonist and it would not have mattered even if she did as she did not marry any important actor. Simran could come back and everyone would stiffle a yawn. Rambha could rock a challenging role (doubt it, of course) and all Tamil Nadu can give is a giant shrug.
But if Mrs.Ajith Kumar (a.k.a Shalini) so much as steps out of the palace to inform us that Pothy’s rocks or Aachi masala smells good, the whole of Tamil Nadu will get a heart attack. Why? She is a queen, damn it.
Sneha married Prasanna. But Prasanna was never famous enough for this factor to affect Sneha’s career.
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Ravi
September 18, 2017
KayKay: “Mr. “Jilu Jilu Gulu Gulu Charming Beautiful Bulbul “
Thanks for reminding that ‘gem’ from Vellikkizhamai Viradham. Made my day. It’s stuck in my head now.
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sanjana
September 18, 2017
In bollywood, I dont think there is any equivalent to Suriya and Jyotika. At this level.
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Madhu
September 18, 2017
“What’s the deal with Jyotika, she doesn’t have the looks or the acting chops. Why is it a news when she makes a comeback and continue the terrible work she has done before.”
I think it is because of the kind of movies she made after her come back. I don’t think (I would be glad to know otherwise) that there has been another retired-married actress who came to be a protagonist in a movie. That all such movies are one-note, faux-feminist, or at least preachy-feminist is definitely an annoying mark. But, it has really never happened before. They would have donned important roles, but it wouldn’t have been their journey (as in, the part they played in the movie’s journey) that was the focus of the movie. In that regard, I do think it is really great that she can get such movies. Tamil movie watchers would at least know that movies with female protagonists can be made and hopefully someone, somewhere would make an actually enjoyable movie that doesn’t make me cringe about the women I watch in them.
She does make voices against (or at least, about) using women as props in movies and loosu-ponnus. And she makes it on an a level in which she recognizes and voices that she had done such roles in the past, when she was ‘young’ and ‘unaware’. Again, this is something that I am glad is getting acknowledged.
Disclaimer: I am not supporting her annoying talks of ‘supportive-husband’ and ‘MILs and FILs’. And please, the last thing I am is her fan.
Now, coming to her family.
Exhibit A: Singam 3 :: A thug strangles a woman to get her husband to agree with something, the incognito officer Surya, who is witnessing the scene, grits his teeth and hopes that nothing untoward happens. The thug, movies his hand south to grope her breasts, the no-more-incognito officer Surya slams and pichu-odhachufies him.
Tamil ponnunga kavari maan maadhiri, ok va?
Exhibit-B: Singam 2 :: Heroine’s parents get to hero’s house to talk about wedding. Heroine (who is watching the scene in Skype) asks the hero why he is not using that loud-loud-screaming mouth to actually talk to his father and he replies that he has said very firmly that the marriage needs to happen, yada, yada and the heroine and her sis go…achicho, ivarai paaren!!!
We are supposed to interpret this scene as, such a sweet man, who WOULDN’T even TALK to parents about what he wants to do with HIS life. He is such a ‘family-oriented’ hero. And, at no point of time, should you think that he is a momma’s boy or that basically he lacks spine.
My agony is not that such movies are made or that Surya is a star in his own right. But that, unlike Vijay or Ajith, he actually has a large number of female-following, who actually believe that he is a feminist at heart and that he only plays a variation of himself on screen.
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brangan
September 18, 2017
Madhu: I do think it is really great that she can get such movies. Tamil movie watchers would at least know that movies with female protagonists can be made and hopefully someone, somewhere would make an actually enjoyable movie that doesn’t make me cringe about the women I watch in them.
This exactly what I was saying in my last para. To me, a married heroine using her husband’s clout to craft vehicles for herself is a good sign, even if the film itself turns out differently. I don’t know if a Tamil audience will accept a Dilwale kind of situation where a Kajol romances an SRK. The atmosphere is different here. So what we have with these films is at least a START that should be acknowledged — even if the film itself is reviewed as per its merits.
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Jeyashree
September 18, 2017
@Rahini: the Shalini example nailed it.. queen, yes she is indeed… Sometimes even borderline overconfident due to the fact that she could pull off what would take the others a genetic makeover to barely match….
After an exasperating first round, wonder who was looking forward to jyothika’s comeback… she did make pachaikili character more repelling, only unintentionally so 🙂
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Jeyashree
September 18, 2017
@rahini:true about being the queen, in the sense you had meant it.. get it now better..
so it is indeed woman empowerment given that the successful hero’s success hangs in the balance of his (ex) actress-wife’s on-screen kuthuvilakku act or their abstinence from the opposite…
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
September 18, 2017
The last part of Madhu’s comment leads me to something I tweeted after watching the film but didn’t bother to put up here. But anyway, here it is –
Don’t know how many people care for spoilers but since it hasn’t been mentioned by name yet, I’ll use X to denote the star who makes a special appearance towards the end of the film. Considering the surprise factor, star value and the character, I was wondering why they went to X and not Surya himself. The cynical in me was wondering if it is because of Surya’s on-screen image (viz. Madhu’s comments about his Singam roles) and therefore they needed to go to an actor/star, who fits and comes across as more comfortable in, the role he is essaying here. All of which makes for some sweet irony.
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praneshp
September 19, 2017
@Aditya: I wondered that too, and came to the same conclusion.
The wondering part was the only interesting part for me while watching this awful movie.
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sanjana
September 19, 2017
Came across a review where the Spoiler about X was posted very casually. Maybe to get more to watch the film because of him.
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Sanjeev
September 19, 2017
And comments regarding Jo acting only in Films produced by Suriya.. Her next film is produced and directed by Bala co starring Gv Prakash Kumar (don’t know y he was chosen)
And after Bala’s film she has also Signed up Mani Ratnam’s next multi starter extravaganza..
What I mean to say is that she is not curtailed by Suriya or his parents in choosing scripts..
That itself is a remarkable thing to see in Tamil cinema
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Srinivas R
August 16, 2018
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/can-we-stop-asking-if-jyothika-real-feminist-every-time-her-movies-come-out-86665
Seems relevant in this thread
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