Contrary to its namesake, Anjali Menon’s Wonder Women celebrates female grit, determination, and courage—not for saving mankind but for overcoming personal struggles in unique, heartwarming ways. A warm cup of soup on a cold winter day, this film is sure to take you on a journey to self-discovery.
Now streaming on SonyLIV, Malayalam film Wonder Women tells the story of six pregnant women who enrol in a prenatal retreat called Sumana. It is run by Nanditha (Nadiya Moidu), an instructor who helps women understand pregnancy and birthing while developing empathy, fighting their personal biases and becoming one with themselves.
Celebrating women, parenthood, friendship
“Women are superheroes for building humans inside them” — Nanditha tells the expecting mothers—Nora (Nithya Menen), Mini (Parvathy Thiruvothu), Veni (Padmapriya), Saya (Sayanora Philip), Gracy (Archana Padmini) and Jaya (Amruta Subhash)—while dubbing them Wonder Women. This scene underlines what Menon sets out to do — counter the trope of divine/superhero know-it-all mothers and humanise them so their flaws are perceived as natural.
Menon also deserves kudos for ensuring diversity in her film. It is refreshing to see how these women—who viewers come to know more and more through the course of the film—come from different regional and linguistic backgrounds, and varied relationship statuses.
Veni is a Tamilian and a former lawyer who her ‘helicopter’ mother-in-law accompanies to all the sessions, Saya is a singer-performer who lives with her boyfriend in Goa. Nora is a happy and energetic woman who has dropped out of her job in architecture to pursue dreams in art, while Jaya, who got pregnant through treatment, is fearful because she has already gone through three miscarriages. Gracy works at Sumana and is having her second child while single-mother Mini keeps her distance from others till her unfortunate situation unravels.
Their dissimilarities often translate to a conflict of interest, which is reflected vividly in a scene where Jaya, who doesn’t understand English, asks to change the medium of instruction to Hindi, terming it as the country’s ‘mother tongue.’ While other women vehemently oppose Jaya, Nanditha calls her “headstrong”, urging others to understand her point of view while explaining theirs. The women who are quick to criticise Jaya for her outdated beliefs come together to recognise where she is coming from and explain their position on the matter.
This altercation is significant because it not only opens the drama but also sets the pace for all that is to come.
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A stellar cast drives a moving story
The ensemble cast gives strong performances. But Nithya Menen, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Padmapriya and Nadiya Moidu deserve special mention for managing to wow audiences with their commanding screen presence. They are also more noticeable because Menon chose to give compelling storylines to their characters. While the film shows great potential—due to good performances and rapidly evolving character arcs—there is little payoff, except in the case of Padampriya’s character Veni. Archana Padmini and Sayanora Philip, for instance, are underutilised in their respective roles.
The whole movie is set entirely in Sumana and we get very little of the outside world. But cinematographer Manesh Madhavan makes up for it by putting the focus on characters instead of settings. Composer Govind Vasantha’s background score blends seamlessly with the smart camerawork to deliver a film that mostly impresses.
The feel-good movie, however, strays away from any real dispute. For one, Mini’s character isn’t fleshed out, and her fight with fellow expectant mother Nora sees no resolution. There is little focus on backstory, too. Viewers know that Mini is going through a divorce—after all, her husband asks her to abort the baby and she is not in touch with her family—but still, there is a lot amiss and the exact reason behind her hardened persona is not talked about. Even Nora’s strained relationship with her mother is hinted at several times, but we don’t know what fueled it.
Perhaps, one can attribute these and more errors to the movie’s limited screen time. But Wonder Women has still done a good job bringing the concerns of to-be-mothers to the forefront—a struggle that hasn’t been adequately portrayed on big screens. In most Indian films, like Amit Sharma’s Badhaai Ho (2018), pregnancy is used to point to larger socio-cultural issues but never acquires centrality—a void Menon’s bold, moving film has finally filled.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)