Movies that make us think.

The last weekend all I did was watch movies back to back. I usually go for comfort films, rewatching them and watching the same climax again and again. But this weekend was different.

Something has been scratching my brain after hearing about the Thirunelveli honor killing incident. It immediately took me back to the movies I admire a lot — Pariyerum Perumal, Viduthalai, Asuran, Vaazhai. I like drawing parallels between my life and movies I have watched.

After debating if I was in the mental state to watch these, I watched Vaazhai and Viduthalai. One may ask: why are these films made? Why do we need to bring out these stories? The only answer is that these films aren't just stories, but testimonies for the fact that caste still exists — intertwined within the very system of the place we live in. They act as mirrors, showing us the reality that this system tries to hide.

A friend once told me something that shifted my perspective on why people dislike these films: "Either they don't understand them, or they understand them so well that the reality triggers them."

This truth is everywhere once you start looking. It's in the subtle, cruel logic of our city planning — where communities are segregated not just by location, but by the direction of the wind to avoid "impurity." It's in the designated cup for your househelp, or in the ritual of giving away clothes to achieve "spiritual cleansing."

Caste isn't loud. It dwells in these silent norms that we have accepted in the name of tradition. How much generational inculcation must it take to consider another human impure? Was it his fault he was born in that family? What's the point of being educated, going to a good job, while at the end everything boiled down to his caste?

Writing this, I think — what am I going to do about this? I don't have answers. This system is bigger than any of us. All we can do is be conscious that all of this is real, not just some random story, and make sure that even unknowingly we don't fall into this trap.