Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu (Eng: Fear, Innocence, Coyness, Chastity) is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language adult drama film written and directed by debutant Raja Ramamurthy and produced by Trendloud.
The film stars Akshara Haasan, with Usha Uthup, Malgudi Subha, Anjana Jayaprakash, Suresh Chandra Menon and George Maryan in supporting roles. It was released via Amazon Prime Video on 25 March 2022.
The story revolves around Pavithra, a quintessential 19-year-old from a conservative family, whose world is small and monotonous. Her day begins with coffee followed by Carnatic music classes from the legendary singer, Charukesi, her grandmother, the matriarch. Pavithra’s mother Sowmya is overbearing and invariably passes strong remarks about Pavithra’s singing being subpar, and her father Bhardwaj has unrealistic expectations of her. Pavithra’s secret boyfriend Harish is a cricketer, and Bhardwaj’s hate for him is pretty evident. Her two best friends, Jessica and Rathi, are the angel and devil on her shoulders. Despite being born into a conservative family, she is secretly accustomed to non-vegetarian food, and this puts her in a constant state of cognitive dissonance.
One day, an impromptu conversation about premarital sex pops up between the three friends, and both her friends stand divided on their opinion. Later that night, Pavithra wakes up from an erotic dream which triggers her sexual awakening and discusses this with Rathi and Jessica, and she decides to do something about it.
Pavithra comes home to the news of a relative passing away and her parents having to attend it. This leaves Pavithra alone for the night at home, and she fancies having sex with Harish. Pavithra starts to give it serious thought, and, after Rathi egging her on and Jessica exclaiming it is a sin, she eventually decides to give it a go and gets herself prepared for the night when Harish gives his consent. Rathi stresses the importance of a condom and encourages her to buy one from the local grocery store, where Pavithra is a regular customer. The Annachi at the store, who regards Pavithra as a child, is shocked to see Pavithra ask for a condom. Jessica confronts Pavithra and Rathi outside the store, and Rathi leaves to pick up some sexy clothes for Pavithra.
On her return home, Pavithra is affronted by Satish, the guy who generally stalks her. As Pavithra sneaks the condom box past Window Aunty, who keeps Pavithra’s conscience in check with her occasional judging looks, she receives a call from Sowmya asking her to accompany Charukesi to the concert, and this conflicts with her plans. Just then, Naidu Aunty unloads one of her MLM products on Pavithra citing her poor singing skills, subsequently depleting Pavithra’s dwindling confidence. With Pavithra already feeling like a letdown, when Rathi enters the house with new clothes, Pavithra impetuously slut shames her, and Rathi leaves the house. To add insult to the injury, she receives a message from Harish that he would not be able to make it tonight, and her final nail in the coffin is the food poisoning she gets from the fish she had earlier in the day. She decides to call off her night altogether.
Later, hesitantly, Pavithra visits Charukesi to elucidate her absence from the concert and completely breaks down and pours her heart out to Charukesi, and they share a tender moment. On reaching home, Harish finally shows up with a valid excuse and pleads to be let in, and they eventually have sex. She wakes up the next day and realizes that sex has not changed her and she is still the same nice girl that she has always been. She accepts that each person’s perspective is different, but not wrong.
Directed by Raja Ramamurthy
Written by Raja Ramamurthy
Starring Akshara Haasan, Usha Uthup, Malgudi Subha
Cinematography Shreya Dev Dube
Edited by Keerthana Murali
Music by Susha
Production Trendloud
Distributed by Amazon Prime Video
Release date 25 March 2022
Country India
Language Tamil
