Gatta Kusthi

Chella Ayyavu's 2022 Tamil film tells a story about power through a marriage. Veera wants a wife with long hair, little education and no argument; Keerthi, whom he marries by arrangement, is a wrestler, better educated than him and has cut her hair short. After the wedding she tries to hide this, and the first half builds comedy out of the concealment. When the truth emerges in the second half the story moves to the wrestling mat and the matter becomes Veera facing his own assumptions. The film criticises the idea of male superiority openly, but in order to do so it first makes that idea a source of humour at length, and the balance is disputable. Aishwarya Lekshmi trained in wrestling for the part. Who it's for: viewers who like Tamil sports comedy and message-driven films. Who it's not for: anyone who will be uncomfortable with sexist jokes running long; the film gives them considerable room.