SYNOPSIS

Southern India, 1930's, Kunjikuttan is the son of a low caste woman, Baghi, a servant to Namboothiri, the Lord of the manor. She suspects that Namboothiri is Kunjikuttan's father, but she refuses to reveal the truth to her son. He struggles to come to terms with the rejection and estrangement of his father, who disapproves of his son. At age 10, Kunjikuttan begins the long and arduous apprenticeship of Kathakali, a revered ancient art that combines pantomime, opera, and dance. After some years, Kunjikuttan's talent is widely recognized. The pain of now knowing his father and being forced by Namboothiri into an unhappy marriage, is seen in the power of his enigmatic performances. Poor, unhappy, and stuck in an arranged marriage that provides no relief, he gets by for the sake of his daughter. One night, whilst performing as Arjuna from the epic Mahabarata on stage, his dance is witnessed by Subhadra (Suhasini), a well educated member of an upper caste family, who falls in love with him, not with the actor Kunjikuttan, but the role of Arjuna the hero of Mahabharatha he played on the stage. She urges him to make love with her, wearing the costumes of Arjuna. Subhadra announces that she is pregnant. She gives birth to a son, but doesn't allow Kunjikuttan to see the child. Only once she allows him to see his son in the costumes of Arjuna. Thus once a son who was deprived of his father earlier, and now a father deprived of his son too, Kunjikuttan returns to the stage, leaving behind his hero roles to play demonic characters, reaching within the dark corners of his mind, becoming increasingly resentful and full of anger, until one last dance which brings the feature to a stunning end.

TECHNICAL DATA

Director: Shaji N. Karun
Script: Shaji N. Karun, Reghunath Paleri
Producer: Pierre Assouline
Cinematography: Renato Berta, Santosh Sivam
Cast: Mohanlal, Suhasini, Mattanoor S. Marar
Music: Zakir Hussain
Runtime: 119 min. Color. Language: Malayalam. Spanish subtitles.