The recent release of a teaser of a Tamil movie named ‘Bad Girl’ starring Anjali Sivaraman in the lead role has sparked a controversy with many stating that the film portrays the Brahmin community in a bad light. The movie has been directed by Varsha Bharath and is produced by Vetri Maaran and Anurag Kashyap. The film is slated to be premiered at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam on January 31st, 2025.
From the teaser, it appears that the makers of the movie intend to portray the story of a young girl from the Tamlian Brahmin family who wants to be rebellious and disobeys her parents to live her life to the fullest, which involves having drinks and having intimate relations with strangers.
The movie teaser has received criticism from many, including Director Mohan G. for depicting a Brahmin girl negatively. “Portraying a Brahmin girl’s personal life is always a bold and refreshing film for this clan. What more can be expected from Vetrimaran, Anurag Kashyap & Co.. Bashing Brahmin father and mother is old and not trendy… Try with your caste girls and showcase it to your own family first,” he said on X.
Portraying a brahmin girl personal life is always a bold and refreshing film for this clan. What more can be expected from vetrimaran, Anurag kasyap & Co.. Bashing Brahmin father and mother is old and not trendy.. Try with your own caste girls and showcase it to your own family… https://t.co/XP8mtnaFws
— Mohan G Kshatriyan (@mohandreamer) January 27, 2025
Apart from Mohan G, several other netizens slammed the movie makers for portraying the Brahmin community in a negative light. “Encouraging harmful stereotypes against Men is “coming of age” humor? Wow,” said one of the users.
How to normalise #Misandry ?
— Vasu Ericsson (@VasuEricsson) January 26, 2025
Girl 1: " I think we should #KillAllMen "
Girl 2: "But I like having Sex with them"
<Everybody Laughs>
Encouraging harmful stereotypes against Men is "coming of age" humour ? Wow. #BadGirl #iffr2025#BadGirlTheMovie #VetriMaaran #AnuragKashyap https://t.co/9CYSnMl7hg pic.twitter.com/N9bzZAaOIH
Another user stated that the movie portrayed ‘poisonous feminism’, spoke against family values, and taught school-going girls to objectify and dehumanize men. The user also said that the movie instigated violence against men as one of the girls in the movie said that she intended to kill all the men on this planet.
#Badgirlthemovie fetishizing Tamil Brahmin girls to spread pseudo-progressive ideas of wokeism & family breakdown that the West is now rejecting. Everyone looked at the Brahmin girl,& didn't realize these disturbing ideas apply to all youth!
— Degree Kaapi (@applesauce1313) January 28, 2025
1. Grooming – school & teenage is all… pic.twitter.com/ehcZtWYBLH
“What Nonsense is this? Aren’t the makers ashamed of producing such a movie? Don’t spoil school-going kids with these crap movies. We don’t need Bad Girls we need Good Girls in Tamil Nadu. This is not Feminism,” said another user.
What Nonsense is this
— Deepak Kaliamurthy (@Dheeptweet) January 27, 2025
Mr. VetriMaaran
Aren't you ashamed of producing such a movie.
Don't Spoil School Going Kids like this crap movies.
We don't need Bad Girl we Need Good Girl in our Tamil Nadu.
This is not Feminism.#Vetrimaaran#BadGirlTheMoviepic.twitter.com/5CuG4ftyhX
Supporting movies like Bad Girl which promote degeneracy, secretly enjoying the degradation of Brahmin women onscreen, is like growing snakes in your backyard and expecting them to bite only your neighbours. The snakes will come after your womenfolk one day.
— Karthik Balachandran (@karthik2k2) January 27, 2025
Meanwhile, many others like actor Vijay Sethupati, director Pa Ranjith and Dhanush supported the film. “Happened to watch #BadGirl, and it’s truly a bold and refreshing film! Director #VetriMaaran deserves immense credit for backing such a daring story. The film powerfully portrays women’s struggles and society’s expectations through a unique new-wave cinema style. Congratulations,” said director Pa Ranjith in an X post.
Happened to watch #BadGirl, and it’s truly a bold and refreshing film! Director #VetriMaaran deserves immense credit for backing such a daring story. The film powerfully portrays women’s struggles and society’s expectations through a unique new wave cinema style. Congratulations… pic.twitter.com/EanrwiDE2I
— pa.ranjith (@beemji) January 26, 2025
“Teaser of my good friend Varsha’s “Bad Girl” produced by Vetrimaaran. God bless Varsha. Great things are waiting for you,” actor Dhanush said sharing the movie teaser.
Teaser of my good friend Varsha’s “Bad girl” produced by Vetrimaaran. God bless Varsha. Great things are waiting for you. https://t.co/2nV3Trnqx7
— Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) January 26, 2025
“#BadGirl teaser is here, Presented by @anuragkashyap72 & #VetriMaaran, this coming-of-age drama premieres at #IFFR2025! Watch the teaser now! Best wishes to the team!” actor Vijay Sethupathi said promoting the film.
#BadGirl teaser is here, Presented by @anuragkashyap72 & #VetriMaaran, this coming-of-age drama premieres at #IFFR2025! Watch the teaser now! Best wishes to the team!https://t.co/J8PRzdGgB4#BadGirlTheMovie #VetriMaaran #AnuragKashyap #AnjaliSivaraman #VarshaBharath… pic.twitter.com/2BuhkQHXWt
— VijaySethupathi (@VijaySethuOffl) January 26, 2025
The debutant director Varsha also made comments about women during the launch of the teaser which sparked outrage. She said that she, as a director, intended to build such a character that would be against the ‘flowery’ image of the women. She said that women usually are believed to be and shown as flowery, devoted, nice girls. “It’s too much pressure on them,” she said which further irked the netizens.
'Bad Girl' director Varsha about wanting to break the narrative of women being portrayed as flowers, pure, Pathini (chaste & devoted), motherly/godly because it was too much pressure for women.
— Tamil Labs 2.0 (@labstamil) January 26, 2025
Makes sense, "Enjoyment without responsibility" is D value.pic.twitter.com/5KLBR9C4bg
The movie is being criticized for portraying the Brahmin community as regressive and orthodox. It shows that the women in the Brahmin families have to play by the rules of the parents or elders and that they can’t do anything on their own.
Apart from Anjali Sivaraman, the film also stars Shanthi Priya, Saranya Ravichandran, Hridhu Haroon, TeeJay Arunasalam, and Sashank Bommireddipalli in key roles. The film is slated for its international release at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 31st, 2025.
