Ezhu Rathrikal (1968)

Kariat’s film follows Kaladi Gopi’s play in weaving together a number of melodramatic plots, realist acting conventions and the theatrical device of enclosing disparate characters into a socially ambiguous space. A number of vagabonds and social outcasts shelter every night in a dilapidated house, the dim, municipal light setting the atmosphere for their interactions. Characters include the hypocritical Pashanam Varky who exploits religious bigotry; Maria the street vendor; the ex-con Ikka, an old Muslim who murdered his unfaithful wife and is now searching for his daughter; a blind and victimised young woman; Abu, who went to jail to protect his girlfriend’s father but lost his girl in the process, and the hunchback Paramu, who acts as a metaphor for a crippled but still decent moral universe. In the end, the blind girl turns out to be Ikka’s long-lost daughter, tying up some of the diverse narrative strands designed to give a picture of contemporary social problems.