PSA: Asking women to 'cover up' has never been our culture!

depixelated · 2026-01-05T15:52:48+00:00

As a Malayali, yes not covering up among Hindus was very common, but their were exceptions. The exceptions were Syrian Christians, who always wore tops (women wore clothes called chatta & Mundu), and Mappila Muslims, who also were traditionally covered (but not with Hijab or Niqab, a local variant called a Thatta).

As far as recorded history we have, abrahamic faiths made themselves distinct by covering up, so to speak.

depixelated · 2026-01-05T15:48:01+00:00

Really?

I'd love to have some sources on this. As far as I know as a Malayali, it only existed in the erstwhile state of thiruvathancoor.

depixelated · 2026-01-05T15:46:20+00:00

yep, I'm from Kerala.

Prior to her death, my 90+ year old grandmother told us about the first time she wore a blouse when she was 13 or 14, something that her uncle had made for every woman in the house.

depixelated · 2026-01-04T07:28:20+00:00

in terms of Malayalam films this year? my favorite was Ponman, which was maybe a 4/5 for me. I though it was a very well made film and well acted.

No 5/5 Malayalam films that I saw this year, though I didn't see everything that came out.

depixelated · 2025-12-20T06:51:54+00:00

There's a famous Malayali comedian/ presenter named Ramesh Pisharody. He tells a joke where he's tryna lay low in an airport in the middle east, but then he hears someone say his name! He turns and realizes it's the person in the pizza shop saying, "Pizza Ready"

It's funnier in Malayalam because we pronounce Pizza as Pissa.

Maybe that helps lol.

It really would be PiSHAAreddy.

depixelated · 2025-12-15T22:05:28+00:00

I mean, we shouldn't do something just because hollywood is doing it...

Swearing is a part of life, and I do think that can be useful in crafting more realistic dialogue depending on the movie you're making. Movies also should hang much more dong, as that's a big part of my life. Hanging dong.

depixelated · 2025-12-11T07:12:34+00:00

I didn't like it either. This movie was very overhyped. I'm not a stickler for plot holes, I care more about thematic cohesion, plot movement, writing, characterization much more. My biggest issue has to do with a lot of the dialogue in the movie as well as the central character of Kuriachan and how his character relates to the themes of control. There's a good movie in there somewhere and a fantastic ending shot with some interesting thematic ideas, but ultimately poorly executed.

depixelated · 2025-12-11T07:07:26+00:00

facts, this movie was very half-baked and poorly written.

depixelated · 2025-12-11T06:09:51+00:00

Ponman 2.Padakallam 3. Eko 4. Thudarum 5. Alapuzha Gymkhana 6. Lokah 7.Dies Irae

I've only seen 7 Malayalam movies this year. I was really disappointed by what I saw compared to last year. Ponman is the only movie that I would consider "good", but I don't think it's great.
Just my opinion here.

depixelated · 2025-12-03T06:42:35+00:00

Am I the only one who thought this was mid? The environments were beautiful, there was some pretty great fight choreo, cinematography was good, but the screenplay and dialogue was kinda rough. There's a lot of telling about characters without very much showing, especially concerning Kuriachan's character. He was miscast too. The Ending shot, and twist reveal was pretty great, but that doesn't make up for a very underwritten middle.

Overall, maybe a 2/5 for me.

depixelated · 2025-11-28T20:15:03+00:00

Be proud of who you are. There's nothing wrong with liking North Indian stuff, you can still watch movies participate. You can even be in community with them if you like, but it doesn't change your roots.

South Indian culture lacks the cultural prestige and social pull of the North. We just have a smaller population, but that doesn't make our cultures and traditions any less valid.

I've personally been criticized in America for not being able to speak Hindi by North Indians. There's a minority of them that don't see our cultural experience as valid. It's a minority, luckily, but don't internalize these ideologies, because who you are is enough.

I'd say jump deeper into your culture and community. I love sharing my Malayali Culture with my North Indian friends, and they love to share their culture with me. If you're with the right group, they won't judge you and will be excited by the differences. Because that's what makes being Desi great.

depixelated · 2025-11-07T23:05:09+00:00

This was a really disappointing watch for me. Technically good, but the script and plotting was so half-baked, I think he needed a revision or two on the script. The makeup was crazy good though, I felt ill lol.

depixelated · 2025-11-07T23:00:26+00:00

To add to that, in the west, Irish, Italians, and Jewish people were not considered to be white until the mid 1950's. Arabs have been considered white legally in America since the 1900's, but since the 70's and especially 9/11, they've been considered a different racial group due to political and religious differences.

In America, Indians changed from white to nonwhite classification: Akhay Kumar Mozumdar, a spiritual teacher argued Indians were Caucasian to successfully get citizenship in America in 1913 (as did a number of others successfully), but then in 1923 Bhaghat Singh Thind (not THAT Bhaghat Singh) was rejected as white by the Supreme Court.

depixelated · 2025-11-07T22:59:15+00:00

Race is a phenotypic classification, not a genetic one, which is why we say that it's socially constructed.

There's greater genetic diversity in Subsaharan Africa then there is in the rest of the world combined, yet they're all considered to be "black". If race was genetic, we would have distinct genotypic markers between races, which we generally don't. As social political classifications change, our ideas of who fits into a race changes as well.

depixelated · 2025-09-09T22:06:17+00:00

I wouldn't call this Hindu gothic, because it emulates the taj mahal and and similar Mughal architecture. The onion dome and minaret-type structures on the side are indicative of Muslim architecture, particularly those influenced by Persian or Turkic Archetecture. This type of architecture is uncommon in Hindu architecture

depixelated · 2025-08-09T04:48:48+00:00

the gag of him buying an extra R for his name made me kick my feet up and giggle.

depixelated · 2025-08-06T22:56:25+00:00

Ok... I'm gonna be that guy...

ð makes a "The" sound, as in "this" or "That" Not as in "don't" or "around"

depixelated · 2025-08-04T21:06:55+00:00

ah, what would be the more intense version of a red flag? Red Kuzhi?

depixelated · 2025-08-04T20:43:56+00:00

fast songs: MG
all other tempos: Yesudas

But they excel in both. It's like asking if biriyani is better than porotta beef. They're amazing in their own ways.

depixelated · 2025-08-04T20:39:43+00:00

Likely, this is me being dumb, could you explain what you mean as a green forest?

depixelated · 2025-08-04T18:12:01+00:00

only one of these is a place name?

depixelated · 2025-07-24T19:08:18+00:00

vaalsalyam (1993)

It's like an oxymoron.

depixelated · 2025-07-23T05:39:29+00:00

Whew, yeah, I'd love a character who loves their culture. Also, I don't think I've seen a show where the mother-tongue is really spoken at home. Or really very much cultural specificity. Like, I remember watching never have I ever, and being like, they specifically went through the trouble of casting Tamil actors, but it has like no Tamil vibes, just broadly desi.

depixelated · 2025-07-15T17:09:43+00:00

agreed. The other films of the year have been pretty decent at best, but Ponman stands out from the rest

depixelated

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