Pandavapuram (1986)

Based on Sethu’s magic-realist novel adapted by the author to the screen, the film refuses to make clear distinctions between quasi-realist, fantastic and symbolic registers of fiction. It tells of a woman teacher in her 30s, Devi (Jamila), whose young son keeps asking questions about his absent father. Devi often loses herself in fantasies which appear to come true. She spends much time on the station platform of the small village, awaiting the arrival of a man from Pandavapuram (it is left unclear whether such a place exists). Someone turns up called Jaran (Appu), meaning ‘lover’. Jaran claims to know her and to want to renew their friendship. As the villagers, and especially Devi’s friend Unni (James), put pressure on Jaran to leave, Devi locks him in her house. One night, dressed in red, she frenziedly rapes him claiming to be the avenging goddess Durga. The morning after, Jaran vanishes and everybody claims no such man ever arrived in the village. Devi then recommences her ritual of waiting on the station platform.