We have come to a time when exclusive works for OTD are being released successively in Tamil as well. A significant number of Tamil webseries and anthologies have been released. But when it comes to webseries, they are often narrowed down to a specific genre, thriller. In contrast to that, “Ayali” has been released on Zee5 as a web series that talks about a social issue.
In the early 1990s, conservatism and misogyny prevailed in a village in Pudukottai. There is a culture where girls stop schooling and get married when they come of age. Moreover, there are many retrogressive village restrictions that prevent women who have come of age from even going outside the village. Tamilchelvi, a schoolgirl living in such a village, dreams of becoming a doctor. In order to fulfill her dream, she tries to hide the fact that she has grown up. This eight-episode series answers questions such as what problems arise due to this, what is the condition of many women in that village, did Tamilchelvi change the town in an interesting and socially responsible way.
Abhi Nakshatra as Tamil Chelvi is the soul of ‘Ayali’. He fits the role well as someone who overcomes the confines of the village and fights to achieve what he wants. At one point, ‘everyone in this town is a fool’, his decisions and actions are applause type. Abhi has handled the role of a realistic Tamil Chelvi very well, by beating his father down with affection, fighting with his mother to get things done, and negotiating a deal with the village goddess ‘Ayali’. Anumol, charming in Tamil mixed with Malayalam, gives a tough fight to this Tamil. At first she is afraid of her family, her husband, etc., but then realizes the reality and makes her flexible in standing up for her daughter.
Aruvi Madan as Tamil’s father, Lovelin as Maithili, Gayatri as Ishwari, Tara as Kayalvizhi all feel their role and occupy the screen. Singhambuli as the village elder, Linga as his son, T.S.R. as the assistant headmaster of the school in that village. All three tick the villain quota as Dharmaraj. DSR is a good performance as a villain who instills retrogressive ideas. Apart from them, there are familiar faces like YouTube fame Jensen, Pragatheeswaran, Lakshmi Priya Chandramouli, Smriti Venkat, Senthil Vel, Bhagwati Perumal for friendship.
Kudos to director Muthu Kumar for framing the story around a social issue that still persists in different forms in many villages of Tamil Nadu. He makes the plot, which is a bit of a propaganda tone, as long as possible into a comedy-drama.
Kudos to Veena Mainthan, Sachin and Muthu Kumar for breaking away from the bad grammar of dragging out the story of a film, which is usually a web series, and writing the script in the style that a series deserves. To keep it moving smoothly, mixing in comedy here and there is a formula that doesn’t break the bank.
Likewise, the verses of this trio alliance have helped to deeply record Father Periyar’s opinion, “Do whatever is right for your knowledge”. “Why are you looking for your family honor between our legs?” Why are you bringing it to puppets?” The verses hurled by women at men are a perfect whipping for the conservatism that has been perpetuated within the family structure for a long time!
Two old ladies fight incessantly, but the flexible treatment that happens when one of them is unwell, the Tamil Chelvi walking around the town with red ink to hide the menstrual blood, at one point realizing the reality and supporting the daughter by the father are spread on the screen as beautiful haikus. Apart from these, there are many scenes of girls who are subjected to cruelty in the name of marriage at an early age, and mothers who do wrong to them and later regret it.
At the same time, the comedy sequences that come out of the story unnecessarily, like Lakshmi Priya’s cameo, could have been avoided. Even though comedy is added for fun, it is a bit awkward to show something as a serious issue in a few places and then keep laughing in order to empty its impact and drama in the next moment.
Ramji’s cinematography captures the warmth of the village and the nature of its people without diminishing realism. Starting with the title sequence, Reva’s music helps convey the impact of several serious scenes. Editor Ganesh Siva has compiled the eight episodes perfectly without losing interest.
This “Ayali” has made a prominent place in Tamil webseries for the concept she has taken and for her uncompromising display.
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