India, Oct. 14 -- Modha Rathri, the new Tamil film by debutant director Raja Karuppasamy, is about a forced marriage. Told with a lot of wit and humour, it is an otherwise sordid tale which has a woman at the centre of the story- with little or no agency. Mutthu (Anishma Anilkumar) is smiling awkwardly as she is decked up as a bride, but it will be soon revealed that she is planning to elope with her lover. As the night progresses, she finds out that the plan was not meant for her in the first place and that, she, at the end of the day, must accept her husband- a respectful and compassionate man named Maruthu (Rishikanth).

Mutthu in many ways is reminiscent of Divya in Mouna Ragam. The Mani Ratnam film, released exactly 40 years ago, was...