AllMovie

This elliptically-constructed historical drama traces the effects of the tumultuous political changes that swept India in the mid-Twentieth Century by showing their effects on the life of one man. The film follows Kunjunni (Viswanathan) from his birth in 1937 in a village in the South Indian state of Kerala, through adulthood and the ironic fulfillment of his dream of becoming a published writer. Influenced by his mysterious uncle Vasu (Narendra Prasad), a Ghandi supporter who functions as a substitute for the father who abandoned him at birth, Vasu's political consciousness grows. He becomes a Communist (Kerala was home to the first democratically-elected Communist government in the world), and joins an underground Maoist group that puts him in constant trouble with the authorities. Kunjunni's idealism, however, is at odds with the effects of Communist rule on his family. Years later, when he has settled down with a family of his own, a stranger brings him news of his father and an offer of reconciliation that will bring yet another change to his life.