Vaanaprastham

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Vaanaprastham

Directed by	Shaji N. Karun
Produced by	Pierre Assouline Suresh Balaji Guy Marignane Mohanlal
Written by	Shaji N. Karun Reghunath Paleri Pierre Assouline (story)
Starring	Mohanlal Suhasini Mani Ratnam Mattanoor Shankara Marar Kukku Parameshwaram Venmani Haridas Kalamandalam Gopi Venmani Vishnu
Music by	Zakir Hussain
Cinematography	Santosh Sivan Renato Berta
Editing by	A. Sreekar Prasad Joseph Guinvarch
Release date(s)	1999
Running time	119 mins
Language	Malayalam
IMDb profile

Vaanaprastham (The Last Dance) (1999) is an Indo-French-German produced feature film, directed by Shaji N. Karun. The film is in Malayalam, with English subtitles. It stars Mohanlal, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, and Mattanoor Shankara Marar. The film's music is composed by Zakir Hussain.^{[citation needed]} The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI^{[citation needed]} Los Angeles International Film Festival (AFI Fest)^{[citation needed]} in 1999.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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 character Arjuna from his stage performances, and not Kunhikuttan the dancer. More in love with the valiant, noble hero of the Mahabarata, than the dancer Kunhikuttan, she rejects him and refuses to let him see his son. Denied access to his son, and rejected by his father, Kunhikuttan returns to the stage, leaving behind his hero roles to play demonic characters, reaching within the dark corners of his mind, becoming increasingly resentful and full of anger, until one last dance which brings the feature to a stunning end.