True love

True Love, Oh True Love…

Who, where, what, and how are you to me?

I’ve always felt movies somehow sneaked into my life, stole my darkest fears, and projected them onto the big screen for everyone to see?

For a long time, I thought Kannathil Muthamittaal was that movie. The story of an adopted girl. Strangely her adopted parents too were part of media line and has 2 brothers. A setup that hit uncomfortably close to home. The two brothers, the eldest daughter... the setup was practically my mirror. Yet, I resisted it. How could a doting parent drop such a life-altering bomb on a child on her eighth birthday? I couldn't wrap my head around it, even if AR Rahman haunting soundtrack held me spellbound.

Then there was Kavya, that local drama written/directed/ created by Jaya Radhakrishnan. It unlocked a raw, unspoken terror inside me, that showed my dating behavior. What if I fell in love with someone who turned out to be my own half-brother? That single fear ran so deep it quietly dictated my choices, shaping the nationalities, languages, and cultures I allowed myself to date. Anything but a local Tamilian - resulting a protective wall built on a shadow, which would sound silly today. 

The Fairy Tale with a Difference

The movie that truly holds the key to my life, my dark secrets, and the facts written in my blood isn't a traditional Indian drama.

Maleficent.

The three arch of my existence, mirrored perfectly in Maleficent  

The Robbed Fairy: A woman whose wings were stolen by a man she trusted just like my birth mother, who tot of raising me, but ultimately didn’t.  

The Shadow Guardian: The fierce protector watching over a growing child from dangers my adopted mother, who kept me safe through the wilderness of growing up albeit raising me gave her a lot of challenges.

The Unyielding Shield: The fierce force standing guard after the sixteenth year, ensuring no harm would ever touch the child the living reflection of my two grandmothers.

I grew up to look like Maleficent strong, guarded, equipped with the sharp edges my upbringing gave me. But deep down, underneath all that armor?

I am just little Aurora…

True Love Really Means….

We are taught by standard fairy tales that the savior is always a Prince Charming. But life taught me a much grander truth: true love isn't restricted by romance, bloodline, religion, or language.

In Maleficent, the moment that brings Aurora back to life isn't a magical kiss from a prince. Its the unconditional, protective, self-sacrificing love of the person who raised and guarded her from afar.

That tender, forehead-kiss moments that absolute warmth is where the real "peck on the cheek" (Kannathil Muthamittaal) lives. It proved that blood doesn't define family; love does. And in that kiss, I found my resurrection…and why Maleficient means a lot.