India, July 26 -- It is rare for Telugu cinema to spark conversations around mental health, child abuse and women's empowerment. But in 2023, Anil Ravipudi and Bhagavanth Kesari did just that. It did not seem to matter to Nandamuri Balakrishna's fans that the film was shoddy at best and the conversations performative. So performative that Sreeleela's character Viji has no agency, because everyone else knows what's best for her. Does the Tamil remake Jana Nayagan get it right? Do Vijay and Mamitha Baiju's characters fare any better? *Spoilers ahead*

Viji is a young girl who is brought up by Bhagavanth Kesari in the original and Vijay's Thalapathy Vetri Kondan in the remake. She battles phobias stemmed from watching the death of a loved on...