Sennai on Neestream from August 11: A story of caste discrimination

Director Jaikumar Sedhuraman’s movie ‘Sennai’ will be streamed on the OTT platform Neestream from tomorrow, August 11. The Tamil movie, which is said to have an intense portrayal of caste discrimination, revolves around the diversity of human life. The director himself has written the story, screenplay and dialogues for the movie.

The film was screened in various film festivals, and has won eight awards. Produced by Jaikumar Sedhuraman and Leeju under Enso Picture’s banner, the movie’s cast includes Bava Chelladurai, K. Semmalar, Annam and Gokila in pivotal roles. The other actors in the movie are Guhan CS, Swami Brahmananda Thirtha, Chandra Mohan, Chandrika, Kotrabai Sreenivasan, Arumuga-Murugan, Murugan PR and Gayathri.

A few other Tamil directors have also made films with caste issues as its core theme, in recent times. Some of them delved deep into the issue, depicting unpleasant and horrifying realities in a bold manner. Vetrimaaran and Maari Selvaraj are two such directors who narrated caste atrocities in a raw manner, winning accolades from critics and audience alike. Their movies Asuran, Visaranai, Pariyerum Perumaal and Karnan have earned a mark of their own in the industry. 

There were similar attempts earlier as well, like Orey Oru Gramathiley, made in Tamil by Vaali in 1989, which stressed the importance of reservation rights. The movie had also won a National Award even before it was released. 

ALSO READ: The portrayal of caste discrimination in Maari Selvaraj movies 

Pa Ranjith’s movies Madras (2014), Kabali (2016) and Kaala (2018) are also impressive examples of how Tamil cinema touched upon the caste issue.

The various appreciations received by the above mentioned movies also denote a change in attitude towards the evil system. It is heartening to see that movies are playing a major role in conveying strong messages effectively by bringing the required attention these issues deserve.