Vanaprastham

Vanaprastham is a 1999 Indo-French Malayalam - language film directed by Shaji N. Karun. It is a psychological drama period film starring Suhasini Maniratnam and Mohanlal. The story revolves around a male Kathakali artist Kunhikuttan, an admirable performer of a lower caste. He faces estrangement of his father, a member of an upper caste who denies his son. Poor and stuck in an arranged marriage, he continues for the sake of his daughter. One night, whilst performing as Putana from Poothanamoksham from the Mahabharata on stage, his performance was admired by Subhadra, an educated and married upper-caste woman, niece of the Dewan. Impressed by his performance she invites him to play Arjuna in her adaptation of Subhadra Haranam. Defying the norms of India's rigid caste system, the two have an affair resulting in a son. But it soon becomes clear that Subhadra loves the character Arjuna and not Kunhikuttan. Therefore, she rejects him and refuses to let him see his son. Disheartened and angered, Kunhikuttan 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 Subhadraharanam.