Vanaprastham

Vanaprastham - The Last Dance (English title: Pilgrimage, ) (1999) is an Indian-French-German produced feature film directed by Shaji N. Karun. It stars Mohanlal, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar, Kalamandalam Gopi and Venmani Haridas. The film's music is composed by Zakir Hussain. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival (AFI Fest) in 1999. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. It is considered one of Mohanlal's best performances and gave him international acclaim. For this film he studied the art form Kathakali in 6 months.

Plot

The story revolves around a male Kathakali dancer Kunhikuttan (Mohanlal), an admirable and respected performer but a member of a lower caste. He struggles to come to terms with the rejection and estrangement of his father, a member of an upper caste who disapproves of his son. Poor, unhappy, and stuck in an arranged marriage that provides no relief, he gets by for the sake of his daughter. One night, whilst performing as Arjuna from the epic Mahabarata on stage, his dance is witnessed by Subhadra (Suhasini), a well educated member of an upper caste family. Defying the norms of India's rigid caste system, they have a son, but it soon becomes clear that Subhadra loves the...
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