That is how she is) is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by C. Rudraiah in his directorial debut, and co-written by him with Somasundareshwar.

The plot revolves around Manju (Sripriya) and the difficulties she faces in her life, due to her romantic relationships, resulting in her developing an aggressive and cynical nature towards men.

Although the film received positive critical reception, it was not a box office success at the time of its release.

However, the film began to develop an audience after directors Bharathiraja and Mrinal Sen commented positively about it.

Manju was raised in a dysfunctional family that consisted of a timid father and a philandering mother; she hurtles from one disastrous affair to another, leading to her degenerating into a cynical woman.

Sensitive and sincere, he believes his job has a purpose and is both shocked and amused at the cynical attitudes of Manju and Thyagu.

She tells Arun about her unfortunate past relationships: how she was molested by her uncle, the ending of her first relationship in college when her lover left her by marrying another woman for the sake of employment, and how her second love, Mano, a Christian priest's son, used her to satisfy his needs and lust, calling her "sister" in front of her parents.

The three shared an interest in the works of Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Roman Polanski, and Roberto Rossellini.

Godard and Bresson were part of the French New Wave, which focused on films based on social ideas, some of which were iconoclastic in nature.

This was Rudhraiya's first film as director;[2] quite radical in his approach, he wanted to change the conventions of Tamil cinema at that time.

[8] Sripriya, who played Manju, was initially unsure about acting in the film due to her busy schedule at that time, and only agreed to do it on Haasan's insistence.

Throughout the film, the cinematography made extensive use of shadows and close up shots to emphasise the moods of the characters.

[2] The film uses a sharp contrast of black and white colours to lend a surreal atmosphere to it,[2] and none of the actors used make-up.

The opening scene where Haasan looks into the camera and says "Konjam left-la ukaarunga" (Sit a little to the left, please) was meant as a sign to the audience to support gender equality.

[14] Aval Appadithan explores a number of themes such as women's liberation, sex and the chauvinistic attitude of males.

Born to a timid father and a mother with loose moral values, she is also subsequently affected by two people she becomes romantically involved with.

One, her college mate, left her to marry someone else for the sake of a job; and the second is Mano, the son of a Christian priest, who used her to satisfy his lust and then trivialised their relationship by calling her "sister" in front of her parents.

[8] Conversations related to matters like the status of women in contemporary (1978) times and the nature of humankind are frequently seen in the film.

She further asserts that the film's only positive aspect is "it does not expose the body of women in the way it is customary" and that Manju could have avoided her unfortunate set of circumstances "if only she had a 'proper' mother".

[19] They also note that Aval Appadithan uses a "fluid narrative style" and music to mix flashbacks with vox-pop and "glossy pictorialism".

[10] In November 2014, Haasan defended the financial failure of the film, "Aval Appadithan was a guerilla attack on the industry by insiders like me.

[7] Critics appreciated the live-recording method of shooting the sequences where Haasan's character, Arun, interviews women for his documentary.

[2] On 19 November 1978, the magazine Ananda Vikatan criticised the gaps in the film, particularly the abundance of English dialogue, the excessive focus on naturalism, and lower standard of technical work (especially the cinematography).

[15] Aval Appadithan was noted for its stylish filmmaking, screenplay and dialogue, a large portion of it being in English.

[26] Rudhraiya's daughter, Ganga, noted that Aval Appadithan help her face life in the real world.

[27] In May 2007, K. Balamurugan of Rediff included Aval Appadithan in his list of "Rajni's Tamil Top 10", saying, "It was what we would call parallel cinema these days.".

[29] D. Karthikeyan of The Hindu wrote in December 2009 that Aval Appadithan would "remain etched in every film lover's memory by showing the best of Rajnikanth's acting skills.

[33] As of July 2013, Sruti Harihara Subramanian, founder and trustee of The Cinema Resource Centre (TCRC), has preserved many promotional stills and photographs of the film's production.

"[6] In July 2016, The Hindu included Aval Appadithan in its list of "roles that defined Rajinikanth the actor".