There are times when Aiyyaa enters strange territories. On one occasion, Meenakshi follows Suriya and his scent all the way to his house. She sneaks into his room and even steals a tshirt, which is downright creepy to watch, but also offers a subtle but pointed contrast to how much more propriety we demand of women. After all, men in cinema haven’t shied away from stalking, lying and generally skirting the edges of criminality while professing their ‘love’ for women. Despite occasional missteps, Aiyyaa manages to get a vital point across: Women’s desires are rarely as chaste as the feminine ideals held up Indian societies. Desire, whether in a man or a woman, is rash and ingenious, spinning full-fledged fantasies out of the glimpse of a flash of skin or a whiff of a musky scent.
Jazmine (Sanjula Sarathi) is listening to “Thendral” (composed, written and sung by Ilaiyaraaja for the film) as Margazhi opens. Music plays a big part in director Akshay Sundher’s segment but in the beginning, Jazmine seems aloof to the song as she waits outside a lawyer’s office. Her parents are getting divorced and Ilaiyaraaja’s pulsating beats, his lyrics about the playfulness of youth are of no use to her. The song’s nostalgia makes it a sonic comfort blanket – she listens to it for the familiarity of a lost time. We get the sense that Jazmine had always been a shy child and the divorce hasn’t helped. Her troubled father enrols her into the church’s youth group. “Only you can help her out,” her father says to the priest.
Within the walls of the church, under the omnipresent watch of Jesus, the boys and girls lock meaningful gazes and intertwine fingers. There is teasing talk of genitals and choir practice is used to sneak away for a quick make-out session in the nearby trees. It is in this world, where the sinful and the saintly are intricately intertwined, that Jazmine spots Milton (Chu Khoy Sheng). At home, she listens to “Thendral” and this time, she is transported to a dream in which lights throb and Milton walks towards Jazmine, shirtless. He takes hold of her face and leans in for a kiss. Suddenly the lyrics of a familiar song take on a new meaning:
A new wind blows..
Are you heedless?
Are you unaware of honey’s sweetness?