4 episodes set in Kerala: 1) The Prostitute: Kunju Pennu
(Padmapriya) and Pappukutty (Sreejith) both live out on the streets, and
Kunju Pennu has been a prostitute until she met Pappukutty, now she
decides to take a decent job working at a road construction site, and soon
the two marry in a private ceremony and hope to soon be able to afford
their own abode - but until then, they have to sleep on the pavement,
where one day they are caught by the police, and they are promptly charged
with having sex on the street, and since they are not officially married,
Kunju Pennu is also charged with prostitution ... 2) The Virgin:
A girl (Geethu Mohandas) is married off to a somewhat eccentric
businessman, who even at their wedding can't help but leave to do some
business, and it soon turns out that he has no idea what to do with the
girl (sexually and otherwise), so after a few days, he brings her back to
her parents (Rosilin, M.R.Gopakumar) - and soon, totally false rumours
about her breakup with her husband start to spread, to which she can only
counteract by admitting that the marriage was never consummated ... 3) The
Housewife: Despite trying and trying again, the marriage of a
housewife (Manju Pillai) and her husband (Murali) has remained childless -
which encourages a visitor (Mukesh), who has once been in love witht he
woman, to suggest to her to fatehr her child instead, an offer she turns
down, even if that means whe will have noone to take care of her once
she's old ... 4) The Spinster: The eldest daughter (Nandita Das)
of a family has to witness all her younger siblings being married off
before her while she seems to be unable to find a husband - and even the
arranged marriage to a man leads to heartbreak when he chooses her younger
sister instead. When her mother (Lalita) dies, the woman decides to move
in with the younger sister and her family, but soon frictions arise, and
finally, she decides she would rather like to stay alone anyways ... An
interesting film that, despite being obviously set in Kerala, does carry
some universal messages and does refrain from exotic kitsch so often found
in what is called world cinema. The whole film is of course helped
by a subtle directorial effort, an unexcited way of storytelling and of
course several spots of humour to lighten up the proceedings without
making the whole thing silly. Pretty good, actually.
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