Director: G. Aravindan; Writer: G. Aravindan; Cinematographer: Shaji N. Karun; Cast: Nedumudi Venu, Srinivasan, Thilakan, Vineeth, Krishnankutty Nair, Surendra Babu, Kunhandi, Chandran Nair, Soorya, Sitara
Duration: 01:47:24; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 55.525; Saturation: 0.136; Lightness: 0.229; Volume: 0.099; Cuts per Minute: 7.393; Words per Minute: 41.506
Summary: Set in the 50s in a remote part of Travancore
Cochin, the story tells of a village, rather like
the one in Aravindan’s
Thampu (1978),
threatened by electrification. Although the
absurdities and the small-minded hypocrisies
of village life are depicted with humour, the
film produces a strange impression since the
conclusion it reaches, that life is better without
electricity, also condemns the very existence of
cinema as a legitimate means of expression.
The key to the film can be found in Aravindan’s
statement that in the small village where he
was born there was no electricity until he was
ten years old, and that he felt nostalgic for
those pre-pubertal times marked by the
memory of people moving about with torches.
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