Pathinaru Vayathinile (Scene to Scene)

On 16th September 1977, Tamil film audiences watched their cinema change with the release of Bharathiraja’s debut feature film Pathinaru Vayathinile starring Kamal Hassan, Sridevi, Rajnikanth, Kanthimathi and Goundamani. The film is now considered to be a landmark venture in Tamil cinema, as it spurred numerous filmmakers to return to their roots and base their stories in the villages of Tamilnadu. At a time when films meant sets and studios, Bharathiraja is said to have shot all of Pathinaru Vayathinile outdoors. The movie also marked the debut of veteran comedian Goundamani and was Rajnikanth’s first colour film. It went on to win 4 Tamilnadu State Film Awards, 1 South Filmfare Award and 1 National Film Award, across various categories. Bharathiraja’s powerful depiction of village life was the highlight of his directorial debut, which is still remembered for Rajnikanth’s intimidating portrayal of the character Parattai, Kamal’s heartwrenching potrayal of the character Chappani Android Sridevi’s delicate performance as Mayil. In 1979, Bharathiraja remade the film in Hindi. The Hindi version was titled Solva Sawan and starred Sridevi, Amol Palekar and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.

A young doctor arrives city, and Mayil is instantly smitten. She has found a more evolved being, and Sridevi plays it exactly how adolescent infatuation plays out. She is coy but curious, elated but hesitant. Articulating the female gaze on-screen is tricky, but Sridevi makes it an organic extension of Mayil's age. Watch the scene where she comes across the doctor at the riverbed. Sridevi is almost childlike as she secretly toys with his items, but the moment he clutches her hand, her face fills with womanly shame.

So split-second is the transition that you can't help but marvel. The same tectonic shift rumbles through her face when the doctor tries to molest her. Her initial intrigue at this new physical pleasure collapsing into fear, confusion, denial and a sudden silence as her eyes go blank. The vaccum on Sridevi's face far more terrifying than the doctor's deceit. Watch her in a subsequent scene a painful emotion to portray and Mayil literally grovels. The doctor's rejection of her is both personal and social. As she stands rudely reminded of her place in the pecking order, the camera zooms into Sridevi's face. You see pain, rage, shame -- mortifying shame. Denounced by the doctor, Mayil now understands that empathy is beyond social grade. She stands crushed, yes. But conquered , no. So, when Chappani offers her his heart, her deadpan gaze makes it clear that even as they bond, the power shall vest in her. It's an intensely complex scene demanding both authority and vulnerability, and Sridevi delivers exactly that. Bharathiraja gives her no words, and the actress let's her silence scream.

The director gushes: 'Besides being enormously talented, she was a very sharp actor. She matches Kamal in every frame. I had told him that if he was not careful, she could outperform him.'

Mayil is quieter now. Her half-sari giving way to a full one. Her singular purpose in life now is to make a man out of Chappani. Although denied social mobility herself, she gives him that prospect. The second half of 16 Vayathinile may well be viewed as Moondram Pirai (1982) in reverse with Sridevi nurturing a mentally challenged Kamal. 

There's a fabulous scene where Chappani comes rushing to Mayil and proudly narrates how he smacked Parattai and the doctor for abusing him. The expression on Sridevi's face is beyond brilliant. You see intense anger as she recalls how the doctor had scorned her, and intense delight that Chappani not only stood up for himself but also unknowingly avenged her. Sridevi is also pure fire in the scene where Mayil defies patriarchy by spitting on Parattai's face for manhandling Chappani. But it is when Mayil exercises her power in the softest manner by embracing Chappani's love that Sridevi truly shines. It is quiet little scene, and the actress's eyes gleam with profound strength.

Her voice resonates with insight -- a woman who has grasped that things are only as perfect as we make them. Alas, happiness eludes her again and Sridevi's frozen face in the final frame is what makes sad endings so lyrical. Bharathiraja reminisces how on the last day of the shoot, he had actually found Sridevi weeping uncontrollably: 'I asked her what the matter was and she said she was finding it difficult to leave that place. We had been shooting there for over a month and she had become emotionally attached to the trees, the fields and the river. I had never met such a sensitive person; perhaps it was this streak in her that enabled her to give me my dream character Mayil so beautifully in flesh and blood.'