SYNOPSIS

Shaji's directorial debut, Piravi was acclaimed nationally and internationally. This visually engrossing film is based on the real life incident of disappearance of an engineering college student, allegedly a Naxalite sympathiser.

In a little village in the state of Kerala in South India, a frail but dogged old man Raghava Chakyar (Premji) waits in hope for his missing son Raghu to return. Raghu, the only son of Raghava Chakyar was born late for him. So he poured his entire love and affection on him. Raghu, studying in an engineering college in a far away city has to arrive at his home to attend the engagement ceremony of his only sister. But he doesn't. The father starts his endless wait for his son. In the hope of news, the old man goes daily by boat to the pier, which is the terminus for the bus that runs daily between his village and Trivandrum, and waits patiently at the bus stop for Raghu's return. Raghava Chakyar comes to know from newspapers that Raghu had disappeared the month earlier during a political demonstration banned by the 'State of Emergency.' Learning of the boy's arrest, he goes to Trivandrum to meet the Home Minister, once his protegé. He returns to the village reassured that his son will eventually return. The man's daughter (Archana) however doesn't share her father's optimism and through her own investigation discovers that her brother probably died in police custody after being tortured but she cannot bear to tell her father who continues to hope and search. However the old man's grip on reality is slipping fast and he starts dreaming his son is with him.

Rain is an important character in Piravi. Rainy day times and wet evenings, which fills the entire film, sets the sad mood of the film. The river in the village and the boat and the boatman too become important characters in the film. The only one who understands the pain of the father is the boatman, who tries to console him. The boat takes the father from the shore of hope to the other shore of pain, the reality.

TECHNICAL DATA

Director: Shaji N. Karun
Script: Shaji N. Karun, S. Jayachandran Nair, Raghunath Paleri
Producer: Shaji N. Karun
Cinematography: Sunny Joseph
Cast: Premji, Archana, Lakshmi Krishnamurti, C. V. Sreeraman
Music: Govindan Aravindan, Mohan Sitara
Runtime: 110 min. Color. Language: Malayalam. Spanish Subtitles.