Murali Nair
In this unique tale, director Murali Nair portrays life in rural India with ribald wit and sharp social satire.
Through the eyes of a child named Unni, the film captures the reality of a village in Kerala, India in the 1970s. He belongs to the superior caste of Nairs. His friends Raju, Ramu and Gopi, who go to school with him, belong to the lowest caste of all. His friend Gopi in particular has already had a life full of hardship and tragedy.
A local ruler bows down to the pressure from democratic forces and is forced to hand over a part of his province to a democratically elected leader. He also presents his pet dog to a poor peasant and his wife. For the poor peasant and his wife, the dog is not a mere dog, but a symbol of the royalty which had always inspired in them feelings of respect, admiration and blind worship. They bathe the dog in a very ceremonious manner and take much care of it. They even desist from tying it up. But when the dog bites and kills a duck and then a boy, it leads to problems. The democratic leader orders the arrest of the dog, followed by the arrest of the poor peasant. Then follow protests, talks, negotiations leading to more interesting developments.
Murali Nair directs this political satire about a man arrested for stealing who becomes charged with a number of murders he didn’t commit.
