Chidambaram

Govindan Aravindan’s tragic love story set in the hills of Tamil Nadu featuring one of Smita Patil’s most powerful performances.

In her brief yet impactful career, Smita Patil worked with many of Parallel Cinema's finest filmmakers, including Keralan auteur Govindan Aravindan. Their only collaboration, Chidambaram, tells the story of Shankaran (Gopi), a cowherd whose attraction to his friend’s wife, Shivagami (played by Patil), leads to tragic consequences. Set in the picturesque hill regions of Tamil Nadu, the film explores themes of guilt, redemption and caste hierarchies. Patil's evocative portrayal of Shivagami is full of nuance while Aravindan turns to religious imagery expressly the ancient Nataraja temple in Chidambaram to conjure something tantalisingly supernatural and allegorical.  

"A pensive, profoundly moving cinematic work that diagnosed the moral weight of human nature without calling attention to itself as an overarching statement." - An Awadh Boys Panorama