Semmalar Annam’s first love has always been film direction, even though it took a backseat since acting kept her busy all these years. But along came a blessing in disguise — the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020 — as it gifted her ample time to work on the script she had in mind.
Annam says she started working with a string of situations — a young mother in an abusive relationship and her constipated daughter. It gradually grew into an endearing film about the quiet resilience of a mother-daughter duo, which she has just shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and was warmly received by a global audience.
Mayilaa, produced by Newton Cinemas and presented by Pa Ranjith, is drawn from a composite of real-life anecdotes, with the titular character a reimagination of her own grandmother’s life. “My grandmother was in her mid-teens when she was married off to my grandfather. She tragically died after giving birth to my father. Her life remained a mystery to me; I had no idea what she endured in her relationship. But I wanted to memorialise her, and hence, I named my lead Mayilaa after her,” she says.
A still from ‘Mayilaa’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
A blend of feminist dramedy and magical realism
The resulting film is a blend of feminist dramedy with a touch of magical realism. It’s a curious melange where K Bhagyaraj and Mahendran’s brand of social realism meets Ingmar Bergman’s meditation on religiosity. “I want to make films with humour and social messaging like K Bhagyaraj and Mahendran,” Annam confesses. “But also, commercially successful ones like KS Ravikumar.”
The film follows Mayilaa, a young woman with a daughter, stuck in a cycle of domestic abuse and crushing poverty. Mayilaa is a day labourer, and her job involves sifting toxic sand for metal scraps. When she finds herself cornered with multiple crises — unemployment, an alcoholic husband who doesn’t provide for the family, and financial needs to preside over the festivities of the neighbourhood Amman temple — she takes up a job as a travelling saleswoman of grass mats.
On her trip, she meets toxic men and resilient women, rich people who invite her into their homes and poor people who guard those rich homes and deny her access. It is a kaleidoscope of biting social commentary told through a starkly realist lens. Mayilaa finds camaraderie in a welcoming sisterhood and their safe spaces, which men have no access to. Amid all this, Mayilaa’s daughter Sudar’s (played by Shudar Kodi) constipation runs as a metaphorical thread connecting the multiple levels of toxicity stifling her.
Annam says women would open up to her when she travelled to rural regions for her film shoots. Often, they expressed a sense of surprise that she is allowed such freedom by her husband to leave her daughter and travel for work. In a way, Mayilaa is also Annam’s quest to understand what makes women stay in abusive relationships. “Shockingly, even many of my educated friends are stuck in unhappy, even abusive marriages with no respite. I wanted Mayilaa to embody all those women,” she says.
Melody Dorcas, who plays Mayilaa, was a choice Annam had no difficulty making. Dorcas portrays Mayilaa with a commitment that led some audience members in the Q&A session at the IFFR to question whether the actors in the film are all actual people from a village. Which, to be fair, most are, according to Annam. “I have worked with Melody in Appatha, and I needed a strong performer. She aced the role,” Annam says.
Melody Dorcas and Shudar Kodi at the International Film Festival Rotterdam
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Much of the film’s cast and crew are female.. Though she says none of this is conscious, and it organically fell in place because she needed a female point of view. “The story led me to all these talented people, and I allowed it to guide me,” she says.
Not a stranger to film festivals
Annam is not a stranger to film festivals. She won the Rising Star Emerging Actress Award at the Toronto Tamil International Film Festival 2021 for her performance in Sennai. Yet, she says, bringing her own film to Rotterdam was a different experience because the responsibility she felt was greater.
The team carried posters from India to display at the festival venue to spread the word. Regardless, all three screenings were sold out in Rotterdam – a terrific feat for an indie film from India with a limited advertising budget. Festival audience hungry for tales from far-flung corners of the world put Mayilaa on their watchlist.
Cinematographer Vinoth Janakiraman, Melody Dorcas, Semmalar Annam, Shudar Kodi, Stefan Borsos, and producer Anto Chittilappilly at the screening of ‘Mayilaa’ at the International Film Festival Rotterdam
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“They told me it’s quite unusual for a new movie like mine,” she says, her tone a blend of gratitude and modest pride. “On the premiere day screening, I couldn’t find seats. We all sat on the aislein the theatre, and I was at an angle half-facing the screen and the audience. I didn’t want to miss the reaction of the audience,” she confesses. “It was surreal to receive live feedback.”
Annam is determined to release Mayilaa in Indian theatres on Women’s Day on March 8. With less than a month left, the team is now gearing up to finish the remaining post-production work and send the film to the Censor Board so as not miss the release day target. “If not Women’s Day, I want the film to release at least in the month of March,” she adds.
Mayilaa was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on Saturday, 31 January 2026
Published – February 13, 2026 03:47 pm IST
