Mollywood actor Parvathy Thiruvothu launched the motion poster of director Leena Manimekalai’s feature film Maadathy on Monday, June 14. Based on the coming-of-age story of a fictional adolescent girl from the Puthirai Vannar community in Tamil Nadu, the film points out how they are discriminated against to the point where they are deemed unfit to even be seen, and are treated as “unseeables”. Maadathy is written as well as produced by director Leena Manimekalai under the banner of Karuvachy Films.  

Maadathy will be streaming in Malayalam Over-the-top (OTT) platform Neestream from June 24. Sharing the film’s motion poster, Parvathy Thiruvothu wrote, “Presenting the official motion poster of 'Maadathy: An Unfairy Tale' directed by @LeenaManimekali Congratulations to the cast & crew for such a powerful film. Watch@MaadathyTheFilmon @neestreamfrom June 24th onwards.” 

Touted to be an ‘unfairy’ tale, the film discusses gender and caste identity, religious beliefs and violence. In an attempt to reflect the discriminatory practices that members of the community face, the tagline of the movie reads “Nobodies do not have Gods; they are Gods.” The film was screened at multiple film festivals such as Busan International Film Festival, Kolkata International Film Festival and Latin American FICCI 60 among others, and won critical acclaim from critics. Maadathy also received awards such as FIPRESCI Jury Award, Golden Kailasha for Best Film, Best Actress and Best Cinematography Awards at Aurangabad International Film Festival, 2020. 

Presenting the official motion poster of 'Maadathy: An Unfairy Tale' directed by @LeenaManimekali ✨
Congratulations to the cast & crew for such a powerful film. Watch @MaadathyTheFilm on @neestream from June 24th onwards.#Maadathy #MaadathyMovie@GRfilmssg @karuvachyfilms pic.twitter.com/80aY2c0jdq

— Parvathy Thiruvothu (@parvatweets) June 14, 2021

Speaking about how Maadathy came about, Leena had said in an interview with TNM, “It all started when I came across an article that noted that it is the Puthirai Vannar community - the last in the ladder of caste system, the Dalits among Dalits, the “unseeable” - who are the ones perpetually on the move, displaced because they are unable to protect their women. It is terrible to know that their plight continues to this date. My question is how long are we going to allow this injustice to continue? This question led me to the film.” 

Read: 'Maadathy: An Unfairy Tale': This Leena Manimekalai film shows an ugly caste reality 

The film has screenplay by Leena Manimekalai, Rafiq Ismail and Yavanika Sriram, while it has music by Karthik Raja.  

Read: Leena Manimekalai’s ‘Maadathy’ to feature in online film fest for South Asian directors