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fiction| 108 mins | colour | 2018

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Director: Ere Gowda | Producer: Vivek Gomber, Zoo Entertainment

Executive Producer: Naren Chandavarkar | Creative Producer: Chaitanya Tamhane

Cinematography: Saumyananda Sahi | Edit: Saumyananda Sahi

Sound: Sushmit Bob Nath | Music: Benedict Taylor & Naren Chandavarkar

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Winner, FIPRESCI Award, International Film Festival of Rotterdam, 2018

Nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Cinematography

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Kempanna, the bangle seller, roams the countryside adorning the hands and faces of women with beauty products. Yet he seems to have little time for his own wife, Saubaghya. Indeed, the only activity that husband and wife do together is taking care of Kempanna's invalid mother.

 

Otherwise, Kempanna seems to prefer the company of his childhood friend, Hanuma - in the quiet and private setting of Hanuma's farm. Meanwhile, Saubaghya's only companion is the neighbour's teenage son Mahesha, who delivers the milk and can't quite control his hormones. The now long married couple's inability to conceive is a concern for Saubaghya's mother - who goes to the local deity and prays for the boon of a child. However, without Kempanna's participation, prayers have little effect.

 

When Saubaghya insists on getting a Life Insurance and disappears to her mother's house, Kempanna has to face what is really wrong with their marriage. For behind every frustration there seem to lurk burning desires. Who is concealing the greater secret - husband, or wife? While society watches, will a child be born?

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