Mankolangal (2001)

Run Time - 114 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Connor McMadden

This first feature film by director Subrahmanian Santakumar concerns a village in rural India where a society of potters is being slowly impoverished by the encroaching forces of modernity. Alagiri is a dark horse among the village inhabitants, a harsh man who lives by his own rules, refusing to get married and have children like everyone else. This isn't to say he hasn't tried. In the past he has hired many indigent women to serve as housewife, but one-by-one gave them the boot. The winds of change begin blowing when Alagiri brings home a sensitive young woman who is willing to go the extra mile for his happiness. As she works to soften his demeanor, she's aided by a little girl from the debt-smothered family next door. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles to Alagiri's happiness, namely scheming money lenders and out-of-town rich boys who love to steal women. With a lot of heartfelt moments amid a heavy dose of 1960's style social cinema, this film provides an engaging insight into the machinations of poverty in India, an urgent story too often overlooked by Bollywood.