She is made to recite the plight of the victim all over again.

They begin with the domestic worker (Dasivicharam) who is stationed outside the outhouse. The Smarthavicharam, where a Namboothiri slips into the role of a smarthan (judge) surrounded by other Brahmins, is disturbingly played out like the ordeals rape survivors are subjected to in the court of law. For them, this is a celebratory occasion-gloating about their multiple wives and mistresses, enquiring about the food, indulging in nourishing oil baths, and occasionally smirking at the “sadhanam” (inanimate object) locked in the outhouse.

A stream of old, garrulous paan-chewing Namboothiri men have gathered for the impending trial. The accused Unnimaya (Mohini), the young widow of Palakunnathu Namboothiri, has been imprisoned in a dark, dingy room. “For a widow, laughter is more frightening than weeping/ Priestly class, do you know the pain and agony of it?/ It is the fire of this agony that is forever blazing inside namboodiri houses” - Lalithambika AntharjanamĪt the expansive and decadent Palakunnathu tharavadu, the arena is all set for a Smarthavicharam (inquiry into conduct).

Parinayam movie ott