Paava Kadhaigal

Story:

Paava Kadhaigal is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language anthology drama film consisting of four short films directed by Sudha Kongara, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Vetrimaaran and Vignesh Shivan. Through four unique stories, the film explores how pride, honour, and sin influence complex relationships of love. The anthology features an ensemble cast including Kalidas Jayaram, Sai Pallavi, Prakash Raj and Gautham Vasudev Menon. It released in Netflix on 18 December 2020, to mostly positive reviews from both critics and audience.

PLOT

Set in the early 1980s in a small town in Kovai district, Sathar (Kalidas Jayaram), a Muslim trans woman is in love with their Hindu childhood friend Saravanan (Shanthanu Bhagyaraj), whom she affectionately calls ‘thangam (gold)’ and believes that once her sex reassignment surgery is done, they can get married and live together as a normal couple. She earns money by standing in a queue for villagers in the ration shop and delivering their goods to their homes. Saravanan returns to the village after completing his studies and has also acquired a good bank job. Saravanan confides in Sathar that he is in love with her younger sister Sahira (Bhavani Sre). Though heartbroken, Sathar comes to terms with the harsh truth and unites Saravanan and Sahira, who start seeing each other. Word spreads to both families about the budding love, and due to the religious differences, both families oppose the relationship. Despite Sathar’s efforts to protect Sahira, she gets beaten up by their abusive father. Saravanan and Sahira plan to elope and get married, and Sathar gives them the money she has saved up for her sex reassignment surgery.

One year later, Saravanan and Sahira’s families reconcile with each other and invite the young couple and their newborn son back home. Saravanan and Sahira are excited to reunite with Sathar. While on the way home, they meet with Saravanan’s maternal uncle, who tells them what transpired after they left. The villagers are told that after Sathar had helped the couple elope, she was disowned by her family and was thrown out of the house. Saravanan’s dad made the villagers get back their ration cards from Sathar, and he was left without a livelihood. She was forced to live on the streets, where she was stalked and harassed by the town’s hooligans.

On one such night, she was being chased by the hooligans, and all the villagers refused to let her into their homes. Out of desperation, she goes back to her parents for help, but her mother refuses to open the door and instead begs her to die at the hands of the thugs, since that would make it easier for her to marry off the rest of her sisters and restore the family’s honor. Sathar is devastated upon hearing this and walks as prey willingly into the hands of the waiting thugs, who violate and kill him mercilessly. Saravanan and Sahira are inconsolable at the entire village’s heartlessness and the misfortune they caused Sathar. They leave without meeting their parents, despite their constant pleas. Saravanan goes to their favorite spot on the riverside, finds Sathar’s little possessions, and cries for his long-gone friend.

• In the story, Sathar’s character has not undergone gender-affirming surgery yet, but she is shown to be saving up for it.