Chidambaram

Chidambaram. is a 1985 Malayalam film written, directed and produced by G. Aravindan. It is the film adaptation of a short story by C. V. Sreeraman. The film explores various aspects of relations between men and women through the lives of three people living in a cattle farm. Themes of guilt and redemption are also dealt with. Bharath Gopi, Smita Patil, Sreenivasan and Mohan Das play the lead roles. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film and five Kerala State Film Awards including Best Film and Best Direction. Plot Shankaran works as the Office Superintendent in a vast government farm situated in the hilly areas on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. His colleague Jacob is the Field Supervisor and a work addict. The two men are poles apart in their characters. Jacob is a down-to-earth and rather commonplace sort of person, whose social pride does not conflict with his easy-going attitude to morality. Shankaran, on the other hand, is a mild-mannered loner. He has an easy, friendly relationship with the workers. Muniyandi, a worker in the farm, is a timid god-fearing man. His job is to look after the cattle. One day he confesses to Shankaran that he is going to his village to get married. When he asks Jacob for leave, Jacob brusquely tells him that he must be back immediately after the wedding. But Shankaran invites him to have a drink with him in his room. Hoping that God will not notice this minor aberration. Muniyandi says a quick prayer before taking a few swigs of rum equally quickly. Then he settles down on the floor and starts singing in the praise of the Lord. The embarrassed Shankaran has to help him to his quarters. Shankaran who is an amateur photographer, goes to attend Muniyandi's marriage in a Tamil village. On the way he focuses his camera on the clay horses standing in a row, neglected in the village green. At the wedding he photographs the bride and the groom. Soon after the wedding, Muniyandi brings his wife, Shivkami from the brown, barren landscape of Tamil Nadu to the green, undulating meadows of the farm. Shankaran watches them from his office window, as they walk towards their quarters, Shivkami stopping on the way to wonder at the colourful surroundings. Shivkami reacts at first like a frightened deer to every new sound, every new scene. The massive, well fed cows, the sound of the motorbike, a new face, everything makes her withdraw into herself.