Vikram (1986)<\/strong><\/p>\n Vikram<\/em>, the oldest of the three, tried to be ahead of its times in Tamil cinema with its James Bond-esque theme. Lissy plays Preethi, a computer scientist, who is asked to help Vikram (Kamal Haasan), an agent deployed by top Indian military officials to recover and disable a stolen nuclear missile.<\/p>\n Preethi hates Vikram the moment they meet; I would, too. Vikram makes it known that he doesn\u2019t think highly of Preethi because she\u2019s a woman. To her credit, though, Preethi is always up in arms, fighting every inch of the way. When he says, amused, that it\u2019s great that \u201ceven women these days\u201d can study what they want, Preethi jumps up; what on earth does he mean by \u201ceven women\u201d? \u201cWomen can do anything that men can,\u201d she says, only to be asked if she could roam around topless in summer like Vikram can. Although she calls him uncultured in frustration, she melts when she hears that his pregnant wife was shot dead by goons (cue for beginning of romance).<\/p>\n Just when you think it\u2019s all downhill from here, Preethi surprises the viewer with her street smarts. When Vikram drops his gun during a chase on rooftops, she grabs it, follows the fighting duo and tosses it up to him at the right moment. At a crucial point, in the clutches of the villain, she passes Vikram the code to disable the missile, while pretending to be working on the villain\u2019s side.<\/p>\n She\u2019s also not just a nerdy scientist, but a sassy one. When she sees Vikram flirting with the princess of the country where the stolen missile is hidden, she loses it and starts fighting for his attention. She sings a song, confronts him as to why he doesn\u2019t like her back, and calms down when he kisses her (just to shut her up, I think!) She doesn\u2019t hide her desire for him and brings it up whenever they have a moment alone.<\/p>\n Although I was relieved that eventually Vikram stopped insulting her intelligence, I wondered if she meant anything in his grand scheme of things. At the end of the day, Vikram is the saviour: despite losing the secret code, he manages to make the missile deviate from its path to Delhi to explode over the Bay of Bengal. How did that<\/em> happen?<\/p>\n 7aum Arivu<\/em><\/strong> (Seventh Sense, <\/em>2011) <\/strong><\/p>\n 7aum Arivu<\/em> told me maybe there\u2019s some truth to the sassy scientist theme. Shruti Haasan plays Suba Srinivasan, a genetics engineer whose research project prompts China to send an assassin to kill her and nip her research in the bud so that India can rely on them to solve a medical catastrophe they plan to create. Suba\u2019s research entails tracing the lineage of a Pallava king, Bodhidharma, who had travelled to China and was an expert in martial arts and medicine. She has conclusive proof that Aravind, who works in a circus, is Bodhidharma\u2019s descendant (both played by Suriya).<\/p>\n Enter Suba\u2019s manipulative, nerd-who-will-do-anything-for-science mode. She befriends Aravind, who easily falls for her charms and merrily accompanies her wherever she asks. When he eventually realises she\u2019s been using him, he accuses her of leading him on. In a stroke of brilliance that I won\u2019t forget, Suba says she never told him she likes him, and he must be silly to think every woman who holds his hand loves him (slow clap). Aravind sulks for a while, but in a clever move, Suba takes him to a museum highlighting the valour of his distant ancestor, convincing him of his role in restoring Bodhidharma\u2019s glory.<\/p>\n What\u2019s astounding is how much screen time \u2013 and voice \u2013 Shruti Haasan gets throughout. I think she even has more lines than Suriya (that she says in her deadpan, emotionless voice). She\u2019s always ready to take command of the situation, and comes up with calm solutions in stark contrast to Aravind\u2019s hot-headed, we-need-to-fight-for-Tamil-culture-type kneejerk reactions. She runs the mile with Aravind, and never relies on him for physical or emotional support. Knowing that the Chinese assassin is hard to take on, she focuses on the research to make Aravind\u2019s DNA \u2018remember\u2019 the skills of Bodhidharma to combat the medical catastrophe that\u2019s plaguing the country. And she is unapologetic about not being in love with Aravind, although in a video log in her phone she says she likes to spend time with him and feels safe in his presence. Never does she say \u2018love\u2019, and never, throughout the movie, do her emotions come in her way of research. This, to my mind, is unheard of in a mass-masala<\/em> Tamil flick.<\/p>\n Her research, even though interrupted at an unfortunate moment, is successful: fortunately for India, Aravind is able to use his newfound genius in solving the medical crisis, and his name is splashed all over the newspapers. Unfortunately for Suba, there is no acknowledgment of her effort in making this happen: not the fact that it\u2019s her idea, not her dogged hardwork, not the friends she lost in this valiant fight. In the last scene, as Aravind extols on TV the importance of keeping Tamil society\u2019s scientific contributions alive, Suba sits quietly beside him, watching the man she helped create lead the show.<\/p>\n Vishwaroopam<\/em><\/strong> (2013)<\/strong><\/p>\n Vishwaroopam<\/em> starts off with Nirupama (played by Pooja Kumar) speaking to a therapist in an obvious Tamil Brahmin accent \u2013 a clear nod to the mixture of extremities most associated with the community: a rigorous faith in education, moral self-righteousness, and flexibility with what religious and moral codes one wants to follow. Nirupama establishes early on that she married middle-aged Vishwanath, or Viz, simply because it was a passport for her to reach the USA and pursue her Ph.D. Making it clear that it\u2019s a marriage of convenience, she tells him she isn\u2019t interested in a sexual relationship with him.<\/p>\n Now, as a nuclear oncologist working in a private research firm, she\u2019s attracted to her boss, and hires a private detective to find some \u2018secrets\u2019 about Viz so she can make a stronger case to divorce him. She\u2019s put off by everything about Viz: his mannerisms that she associates with his being a Kathak dance teacher, which makes her think he might be gay, and weirdly, the way he puts her interests before his. When the therapist asks about her \u201caffair\u201d with her boss, Nirupama makes it clear that she\u2019s not a \u2018bad woman\u2019, implying she hasn\u2019t slept with him\u2026yet. Some kind of moral high ground makes her want to get divorced before she does so. Yet, she steers clear of stereotypical portrayals of a Brahmin woman in Tamil cinema: she confidently flaunts her cleavage in her low-cut blouses and risqu\u00e9 night clothes, and she also loves chicken, which her husband cooks for her out of sheer love, even as he doesn\u2019t eat it.<\/p>\n As the movie progresses, she realises she\u2019s a piece in the elaborate puzzle set up by Wisam (Viz, in a different avatar!) and his team to fight the Al-Qaeda in the US; her specialised knowledge is subtly mocked at every minute. \u201cYou can\u2019t just scrape off caesium to make a bomb, you know?\u201d she says when they tell her how the terrorist outfit has been creating a bomb. They roll their eyes and smile as if they\u2019re humouring a smart, over-enthusiastic child and tell her, \u201cWe know<\/em>.\u201d The only saving grace is that at the end of the movie, Nirupama comes up with the solution to stop the bomb from exploding, by simply creating a Faraday cage<\/a> with a microwave oven. The end credits of the movie show her in bed with Wisam; now that he\u2019s shown his \u2018male and macho\u2019 side, she\u2019s happier being his wife. Oh, and did I mention that there\u2019s no moral conundrum because her boss-boyfriend is conveniently killed early on?<\/p>\n Tamil + Female + Scientist + Cinema<\/strong><\/p>\n The female scientist in Tamil cinema is quite the multi-faceted character. Her specialisation in science means she can command respect in a topic that (mostly) the male protagonist can\u2019t question her on; he\u2019s somewhat likely to (even if grudgingly) take instructions from her. This also means he trusts <\/em>her with implementing some significant steps of his grander scheme to save the country\/world. Sadly, even if she thinks<\/em> through the crucial element that helps solve this huge problem, the hero hogs the limelight for having implemented <\/em>it.<\/p>\n I wonder if the confidence that stems from her education also puts her more in control of her sexuality; she\u2019s not afraid to speak up about her desires or use it to achieve her ends. All the same, this control operates strictly within the boundaries of what\u2019s acceptable in society. Even in a marriage of convenience, Nirupama thinks it\u2019s bad to have an affair. Suba of 7aum Arivu <\/em>has to justify to both Aravind and the audience that despite her manipulation of Aravind for the research, she still likes him \u2013 she is a good woman<\/em>, after all. With Preethi, I wonder if she was attracted to Vikram only because she saw him flirting with the princess! Is that the trope of jealous women at play?<\/p>\n It\u2019s rather easy to discuss how sexuality is portrayed in movies if the character is a young female scientist. What\u2019s it like when she grows older? Does she continue working? How much of her eccentricities is she \u2018allowed\u2019 to have, compared to her male counterparts? Does she have kids, does she get married, how does she manage it all? If she\u2019s grown in stature as a scientist, how much easier is it for her to drive the entire operation, and be credited with being the brains? I wait for the day I can watch one such Tamil movie.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n![\"Poster](\"https:\/\/tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/vikram-1-219x300.png\")
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