Wonder Women review: Parvathy, Nithya Menen’s film is a heartwarming drama about pregnancy and celebrating sisterhood

Anjali Menon’s Wonder Women about six pregnant women from different walks of life is more than just an awareness story about how to be prepared for motherhood. The film, which does feel like a docu-drama at times, offers a very interesting look at the world around us through the eyes of these pregnant women. At its core, the film is a breezy take on preparing oneself for motherhood but at the same it also discusses issues such as patriarchy, Hindi imposition, empathy, feminism and judgmental society. Also read: Nithya Menen, Amruta Subhash’s film is all about embracing motherhood. Watch Wonder Women trailer

Most of the film takes place inside Sumana, a prenatal camp, where six pregnant women, at different stages of their pregnancy, walk in with the hope of becoming better mothers but evolve as better humans. Sumana is run by Nandita (Nadiya), whose attitude according to the mother-in-law of a character makes her a feminist. Fifteen minutes into the film and we’re made to realize how quickly we form perception about people. The story is set in Kerala and Jaya (Amrutha Subash), a Marathi, requests Nandita to speak in Hindi as she doesn’t understand English. Jaya believes Hindi is our national languages and her comment gets others riled up and the scene quickly addresses Hindi imposition. But the film doesn’t take a dig at the Hindi versus south Indian languages debate but rather uses it make us understand that people can learn if guided correctly. There are also interesting plot threads about a conservative mother-in-law, a busy husband who thinks it’s the wife’s job to learn about parenthood and a pregnant woman who is going through divorce.

Anjali Menon questions a lot of issues that are plaguing the society through Wonder Women, which is also about celebrating sisterhood. It’s a film about these pregnant women who are preparing themselves for childbirth but are simultaneously learning so much about each other and life in general. Parvathy plays Mini, a character who is going through a divorce and her plot thread allows us to see how society looks at a pregnant woman with no husband in the picture. Padmapriya plays Veni but her mother-in-law says she is nobody without her family surname and should take pride in mentioning it whenever she introduces herself. Nithya Menen plays Nora, who is happily married but fears her life would change after childbirth. Amrutha Subash plays Jaya, who’s mentally so weak after three miscarriages but is desperate to become a mother. Gracy is constantly worried if she can make ends meet with the arrival of her baby. Saya is in a live-in relationship with her sweet and ever caring boyfriend.

The film looks at pregnancy through different perspectives and reminds us that we shouldn’t become judgmental. It’s not a film that tries to look down upon men while keeping the central focus on women and their problems overall. In fact, the story has two really positive male characters who are both supportive and understanding of their partners through pregnancy. Importantly, the film tries to establish the fact that communication is key to every relationship, especially more during pregnancy.

Wonder Women is currently streaming on Sony LIV.

Film: Wonder Women

Director: Anjali Menon

Cast: Parvathy, Nithya Menen, Padmapriya and Nadiya Moidu and Amrutha Subash