Fasil Muhammed’s delightful debut feature Feminichi Fathima (Feminist Fathima), is a pint-sized revolution that should be made compulsory, tax-free viewing all India

Illustration/Uday Mohite

MALAYALAM FILMMAKERS have been making great cinema for nearly a century; small mercies, the Bollywood crowd and other Northies “discovered” it about 10 years ago, or 90 years later. I’m delighting in Fasil Muhammed’s debut feature Feminichi Fathima (Feminist Fathima), a low-budget, pint-sized revolution that should be made compulsory, tax-free viewing all India. A mattress on which a kid has peed, in a north Kerala village, becomes an instrument for his Muslim mullah dad, Ashraf, to oppress his wife Fathima. But the masterly screenplay allows Fathima to quietly become a feminist, jettisoning a truckload of patriarchal and religious strictures. The film won a slew of awards at the International Film Festival of Kerala, including the FIPRESCI Award for Best International Film, NETPAC Award for Best Malayalam Film, Jury Prize-International, FFSI KR Mohanan Award for Best Debut Feature-Special Mention, and Audience Poll Award. It was also at the Bishkek International........

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