Chidambaram

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 uses religious imagery to conjure something tantalisingly supernatural and allegorical.