Newsletter | Cherchez La Femme: 6 Singular Anti-Heroines From Malayalam Films

This column was originally published as part of our newsletter The Daily Show on April 5, 2023. Subscribe here. (We're awesome about not spamming your inbox!)

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FICTION loves a femme fatale. Narratives that call for intrigue and suspense are naturally (at times morbidly) fascinated with the figure of “a seductive and beautiful woman who brings disaster to anyone with whom she becomes romantically involved”. From Basic Instinct’s Catherine (Sharon Stone) to Jane (Angelina Jolie) in Mr & Mrs Smith, Susanna from 7 Khoon Maaf (played by Priyanka Chopra) or Nimmi (Tabu) in Maqbool, Ishqiya’s Krishna (Vidya Balan) and Ek Hasina Thi’s Sarika (Urmila Matondkar) to Andhadhun’s Simi (Tabu, once again) — cinema, both from home and abroad, has a slew of iconic characters cast in the femme fatale mould. What’s the score in Malayalam cinema? Here’s a look:

Chathuram’s Selena

Sidharth Bharathan’s erotic pulp thriller Chathuram doesn’t give Selena (played by Swasika) much of a backstory. We simply see a young woman accompanying an elderly man to a sprawling estate nestled somewhere in central Kerala. As the film unfolds, it becomes apparent that the woman, who hails from an impoverished family, has been bought by the sadistic old man; he sexually assaults and tortures her repeatedly. When Selena beats Eldho (Alencier Ley Lopez) at chess, he feels slighted and hits her. She puts up with the abuse until one day, Eldho falls into a pit and sustains a paralysing injury. As her predator lies immobile in bed, Selena baits him with her body and laughs at his misery. When Balthazar (Roshan Mathew), a nurse, is assigned to take care of Eldho, Salena — aware of the effect she has on him — uses her sexuality to lure him. Her transition from petrified victim to seductress biding her time is convincingly depicted.

Selena is a throwback to the femme fatales you’d encounter in Sidney Sheldon’s stories; she gives such mixed signals that you, the viewer, are left as conflicted about this woman as her new lover, who gradually realises that he is a mere pawn in her gameplan. What makes Selena stand apart is the way she uses her femininity to trap her victims. She swings between vulnerability, openness, intelligence and in-your-face sexiness, eventually getting her way and even at the very end, she remains an elusive yet enticing mystery.

Watch it here.

Susanna from Purusha Pretham

In sharp contrast to Swasika’s act as Selena, Darshana Rajendran turns in a very understated performance as Susanna in Krishand’s black comedy Purusha Pretham. Married to an abusive man, Susanna’s scars are as deep and as painful as Selena’s, but she is too weary to use her sexuality to fight back. When an opportunity to flee from her misery presents itself, she grabs it — but her actions come from a desperate desire to survive and live without fear. So when she is cornered, she reveals all her secrets, and even what she does afterwards isn’t strategic, just spurred by her trepidation.

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Bhadra — Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu

Few femme fatales display the combination of vulnerability and strategising that marks Bhadra (Manju Warrier) from TK Rajeev Kumar’s Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu. Bhadra has an uphill task: she intends to take on two of the most powerful men — a father-son duo in the village, who have a reputation of harassing women — while keeping her body off-limits. She knows her quest for vengeance is as good as playing with fire, but nevertheless casts herself as bait for both father and son simultaneously. What makes Bhadra’s femme fatale act distinctive is how she plays the seduction game. Her arc, from an orphaned child to nubile enchantress is convincingly charted, powered by Manju Warrier’s duality. She is playful, kind, inscrutable; her demeanour towards her prey must mask her fear and resentment in equal measure. Her seduction tactics too are well thought out: mildly flirtatious with the horny Natesan (Thilakan), demure with his son Uthaman (Biju Menon). Both men fall for the ploy, helping Bhadra achieve her goal.

Watch it here.

Tessa, from 22 F Kottayam

Bhadra’s vengeance is linked to a tragedy from her childhood, but when Tessa (Rima Kallingal) from Aashiq Abu’s 22 F Kottayam decides to seek revenge, it stems from a place of heartbreak. A naïve Tessa falls head over heels in love with Cyril (Fahadh Faasil), unaware of the dangers that lurk. When Cyril pimps her to his boss, it’s the betrayal that hurts, along with the physical violation. The rape-revenge trope (brutalised survivor delivers summary justice to the perpetrators) is one that has been used time and again, and 22FK’s depiction of Tessa’s ordeals does veer into exploitative territory.

Tessa is out to decimate her predators; to get there, she makes use of her sexual agency, hatches a long-term plan — and succeeds. Her revenge offers a cathartic thrill, although the shine is taken off her femme fatale turn in the third and final act featuring Cyril, where a conversation between them attempts to provide a justification for his actions and ends up infantilising Tessa’s retribution.

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Aanum Pennum — Kochuparu

Samyuktha Menon plays Kochuparu in ‘Savithri’, one of the segments in the anthology Aanum Pennum. Paru is a Communist working incognito as a domestic help in a powerful upper-caste family. Paru is regularly hit on by the lecherous patriarch, but manages to keep him at bay. Meanwhile, she seduces a smitten young man for her own ends, and drops him like a hot potato when her task is accomplished. This depiction is contrived and problematic, and thus, doesn’t have the desired impact.

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Anjali in Beautiful

Meghana Raj’s turn as Anjali in VK Prakash’s 2011 film Beautiful is still among the most talked-about femme fatale acts in Malayalam cinema. Anjali is a quiet and alluring nurse, hired to look after Stephen (Jayasurya), a quadriplegic. It doesn’t take much time for Stephen and his friend John (Anoop Menon) to fall under Anjali’s spell. Her effect is so hypnotic that we aren’t willing to see her beyond her mystique. Dressed in drab cotton saris, with a face that adhered to conventional standards of beauty, there isn’t anything in Anjali’s external appearance that alludes to her femme fatale image, save for the atmosphere created (rain, music) to accentuate her aura. When Anjali turns out to have been using her feminine wiles all along, to execute her mercenary plans, we viewers are left just as stumped as Stephen and John.

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