"Death complete's and complements a woman's beauty."
This is my translation of a vital quote from the book. It is perhaps also the gist of the book.
Weaved into an investigative novel, the story of Paleri Manikkam -- a 19 year old married woman in north Kerala -- is an evocation of the depth and complexity of womanhood, both physical as well as mental.
At another level, the story is also an honest rendering of the colours, hypocrisy and innocence of a social, political and cultural era that Kerala has left behind in the past few decades.
Rajivan also does a splendid job of stripping the man-woman relationship of the aesthetics, mores and moralistic trappings and treating the human body, especially the female body in all its crudity, without for a moment sounding indecent.
Refreshing in its style and narration, I will remember Paleri Manikkam most for its honesty and straightforwardness.
I hope the movie is even half as good. Although I can already imagine Mamootty rocking in that most important role.
