Shwetha Menon Wet Saree Photos From Samayam

Wet saree pictures are a staple in Indian cinema. Directors have used the wet saree to convey sensuality and sexuality in the face of India's tough censorship laws for over fifty years. Although the trend possibly started with Hindi movies (Raj Kapoor being one of its earliest effective exponents), it is South Indian cinema that has made the wet saree its own. Entire movies have revolved around the wet saree and women getting wet in rain --- the Telugu "Varsham" and its Tamil remake "Mazhai" is one such example. However, the wet saree has also been used as a non-seductive plot device---the following example is of Shwetha Menon from the Malayalam movie "Samayam" (thanks to shinujohn2010 for letting me know who she was). I have not seen this movie yet, but from what I can gather from the plot the situation is this: Manikyam (Shwetha Menon) is the wife of an irresponsible potter Chathappan who gets into trouble often. Assuredly, this is the case now and Manikyam must rush to the village elders(?) to ask for help. Heavy showers compound the problem. In this scene, Shwetha is wearing a beige cotton spotted saree with a maroon border and an emerald-green cotton blouse. As befits a village woman, her clothes are slightly worn from regular use and have become softer. As the raindrops envelope her, the slightly thicker blouse absorbs the water and darkens to a mossy shade. Her saree, being thinner, clings to her and gets transparent. Clearly she has chosen the perfect outfit for a runaround on a rainy day!

This analysis, as I call it, threatens to be rather long. This is probably because I have never encountered such a beautiful set of wet saree photos before. Thanks to the crew of Samayam for this beautiful offering.

Shwetha's outfit is, as I mentioned earlier, perfect for a drenching. 

One thing I have realised is that editing this "analysis" as I call it will take far more time than I hoped for initally. 

Another facet of how appropriate Shwetha's wardrobe is made plain in pics 6a and 7, and again in the contrast between pics 8 and 9. 6a probably represents a rehearsal that has been going on for a few minutes. So Shwetha's blouse is not quite dripping and has a light mossy look. However, her posture clearly strains the close-fitting blouse. The next shot (7) is probably right after an attempted take. The sprinklers have momentarily come on at full blast and drenched Shwetha yet again. Her posture is slightly more relaxed than the previous shot as she probably listens to the director's instructions. Her kohl-rimmed gaze seems to reflect off the proud sheen of her emerald-wet blouse and her dripping saree. 9 also shows off the glossiness of a fully wet piece of cotton clothing, as well as the accentuation of her upper arm. Together with 6a and 7, 9 traces Shwetha's contours with precision. However, the contrast between 8 and 9 also demonstrates an endearing aspect of wet clothing. 9 is a fully wet situation and the strained wet shiny blouse complements the tension on her face. In contrast, 8 is probably a rehearsal-no-sprinkler scenario. This is probably the driest Shwetha gets throughout this series. Her arms, neck and face show no visible water droplets. Her blouse is at best damp and light green and has a mossy feel to it. It seems to hang loosely on her bosom. The upper part of her saree id also almost dry although the lower parts retain the water that has percolated down. All in all, this pic gives the feeling of a slight loosening of tension.