Dr Vimala Perumal is a household name in the Malaysian Tamil film fraternity. With several commercial movies under her belt, notably Vilaiyattu Pasange, Vetti Pasange, and Vedigunde Pasange, the filmmaker has gone on to win awards both locally, and internationally. Having won the Best Tamil Film Diaspora at Norway Tamil Film Festival 2019 and Special Mention Award in the prestigious Festival Filem Malaysia, Dr Vimala Perumal is pushing her horizons further with a woman-centric series titled Tamiletchumy.
With all the recent issues women are facing in our communities, Tamiletchumy is both timely and apt, and it is only rightful that an accomplished Malaysian Tamil women director, such as Dr Vimala Perumal, helm the show. Revolving around the lives of three married women in the capital of Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, the series stars Jasmine Michael, Hemaji, and Moon Nila in lead roles. Dr Vimala Perumal’s choice of casting is indeed intriguing – as she decided to go with both experienced and budding talent.
Jasmine Michael is probably the most visible and recognizable Malaysian Tamil actress. Often times, netizens have criticized directors for choosing Jasmine Michael, claiming that there is a need to introduce new faces and talents. However, these criticisms have been both unfair and unjust. How many times have we seen Hollywood actresses, such as Jennifer Aniston on the main screen? What about the countless times we have seen A-list directors cast the same cast time over time? I think it is also fair to say that male lead roles do not face these kind of criticism, unlike female stars. And to be fair, Jasmine Michael probably appears as the lead role in one feature film per year. As for Moon Nila, she has been constantly trolled and meme’d by netizens. And the budding actress has often ignored these negative comments, until recently she lashed out to the cyberbullies, after the suicide of Thiviya Nayagi.
Indeed, Tamiletchumy is the kind of tele-series that our societies need. It explores women issues in the city and the challenges that they face, which are often blind to us. The series premiers on 8 June 2020 and don’t forget to catch it on Astro Vaanavil. In the mean time, enjoy the OST.
trootz 