Underplayed Gems

Sirai (1984)

Sirai poster
Original title
சிறை
Directed by
R. C. Sakthi
Genre
drama film
Country
India
Runtime
2h 23m
Rating
7.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A Brahmin woman is raped by an alcoholic man and then rejected by her husband. A police constable encourages her to live with the rapist, where she slowly forms a bond with him.

somberemotionally intenseslow-burnmelancholicrawgrittythought-provoking

What happens

Sirai (transl. Prison; also spelt Chirai) is a 1984 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by R. C. Sakthi. The film stars Lakshmi and Rajesh, with Pandiyan, Ilavarasi, Prasanna, S. S. Chandran, V. Gopalakrishnan and Isari Velan in supporting roles. It follows a Brahmin woman who, after being raped by an alcoholic man, is disowned by her husband. After being encouraged by a police constable, she moves in with the rapist and develops an attachment for him. Sirai is based on Anuradha Ramanan's 1980 short story of the same name. The film was produced by Mohan of Anandhi Films, photographed by the duo Vishwam–Nataraj, and edited by G. Radhakrishnan. It shot on actual locales, with minimal use of sets, although shooting also took place at Vauhini Studios. This movie marked the Cinematic debut of lyricist Piraisoodan Sirai was released on 22 November 1984. Despite receiving criticism from Brahmin organisations who demanded it be banned, the film received critical acclaim, particularly for Lakshmi's performance, and became a commercial success, with a theatrical run of over 100 days. The film was remade in Telugu as Siksha (1985). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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