Moondram Pirai

Balu Mahendra's 1982 Tamil film follows a young woman who suffers a severe head injury in a car accident. After losing her memory she behaves like a child; taken out of a brothel where she was held, she comes to live with a teacher in a hill town. At the centre is the burden of care. The teacher looks after her, waits for her recovery and becomes attached in the meantime, but the person in front of him is not in a position to consent, and the film proceeds without forgetting that difference. Balu Mahendra both directed and shot the film; nature, light and place are the main instruments of its feeling. Kamal Haasan and Sridevi lead, and the final scene became one of the most cited passages in Tamil cinema. Who it's for: those who like classic Tamil drama. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by romantic tension built around a character who cannot consent because of her condition; the film takes up that dilemma but does not fully resolve it.