Are You A Movie Buff? Then You Can't Miss These 12 Women Centric Regional Movies

Regional feminist films: Not only Bollywood, movies across regions effectively deal with the theme of on screen feminism. They choose different themes which bring out women's struggles, challenges, desires and aspirations. The strong female characters and their unconventional storyline keeps us craving for more. Here's suggesting you some phenomenal  regional feminist films.

12 regional feminist films you should watch out for

1. Magalir Mattum (Tamil)

Prabhavathi is a documentary maker living with her friends. She later moves in with her future mother-in-law Gomatha Silkurayappan, who misses her school friends. Prabhavati is determined to reunite her with them. Once they meet again, the women realise how much their lives have changed.

2. Take Off (Malayalam)

An Indian nurse, Sameera, working in Iraq is held hostage along with her colleagues. The Indian ambassador Manoj uses his wit and shrewdness to rescue them and get them out of the country alive. The film is inspired by a real-life incident that took place in Iraq in 2014 during the country's civil war.

3. Kanaa (Tamil)

Kanaa is the story of Kousalya Murugesan aka Kowsi who aspires to become a cricketer for her father's sake. At the age of 11, she finds her father heartbroken over India's defeat to Sri Lanka in a cricket match. Thus, she decides to take up the sport seriously, represent her country and win the world cup to bring a smile on his face.

4. Anandi Gopal (Marathi)

This is the biopic of one of India's first female doctors Anandibai Gopal Joshi. She was married off at a very young age to Gopalrao Joshi, a man almost 20 years older to her. However, he was progressive and supported women's education. After their first child dies due to the lack of medical care, Anandibai decides to become a physician. The movie tells us of the struggles she faced because of her high aspirations back in time and how she overcame them.

5. Rajkahini (Bengali)

Set in the backdrop of colonial India, Rajkahini is a story of unity, valour and strength. When the authorities ask a group of sex workers to vacate their home because it fell on the Radcliffe line, they are determined not to vacate it. The movie goes on to talk of resistance against state and patriarchy. It was remade in Hindi as Begum Jaan.

6. Nathicharami (Kannada)

Nathicharami won explores a woman’s sexual desires outside of marriage. Gowri is a widow and still in love with her dead husband, but desires sex. She is torn between her physical desires and emotional beliefs in a society that looks at physical desires out of wedlock as a taboo.

7. Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (Marathi)

The movie is a biographical account of Sindhutai Sapkal. She became a social activist after living a traumatic life. Sindhutai was married off at the age of 10 to a man much older to her in years. He abandoned her blaming her of infidelity. However, she didn't lose hope and reached San Jose on a fund raising mission for her orphanage.

8. 22 Female Kottayam (Malyalam)

A rape and revenge thriller, the movie is inspired by Sriram Raghavan’s Ek Hasina Thi. It follows the story of a nursing student Tessa who falls in love with Cyril. One day she is raped by his voice. She doesn't take any action against him initially but is sexually abused once again. She later comes to know that her partner is a pimp and was involved in the act throughout the time. Tessa finally plans her revenge and executes it successfully.

9. Goynar Baksho (Bengali)

This movie tells the story of three generations of women and their changing relations with a box of jewels. What the matriarch of a Bengali Hindu family kept in hiding from her greedy relatives is ultimately donated for a noble cause. With Moushumi Chatterjee, Konkona Sen Sharma and Srabanti Biswas in the lead roles and Aparna Sen's direction, Goynar Baksho is a treat to watch.

10. Take One (Bengali)

Doel Mitra is an actor who is shooting for the part of Sita in a film. Meanwhile an intimate scene from one of her international movies gets leaked on the internet. As a result, she faces backlash from the conservative section of the Indian society. Therefore, it draws a parallel between Sita and Doel, both of whom have to prove their "chastity". The movie also gathered praise for the mother-daughter relationship it portrayed.

11. Village Rockstars (Assamese)

Living in the village of Kalardiya near Chaygaon in Assam with her widowed mother and elder brother, Dhunu dreams of having her own rock band. She craves to own a guitar and slowly realises that positive thinking can help her materialise her dream. However, when the flood destroys the family's crops, she is bound to choose her priorities.

12. Shuddhi (Kannada)

Last in the list of regional feminist films, there is Shuddhi, a thriller revolving around the lives of three women, who are on separate but interconnected journeys. Karlyn is an American photojournalist. She is on a secret mission in Bengaluru. Jyothi and Divya, are journalists fighting against the leniency of the Juvenile Justice Act. On the other side, the police are chasing a criminal. The knots untangle when the stories intersect.