Unnikrishnan Avala

Gulikan, born and brought up as a boy in a tribal settlement, has the body and soul of a girl. Dark skinned, fragile, introvert and vulnerable, he struggles to balance his life working as a coolie in the city. Displaced by drought, poverty and addiction, humiliated and abused in a racist society, his tribe is on the run. Udalaazham, the story of a tribal transgender, discusses how color of the skin, not the depth of one’s heart is an approved identity in a ruthless and cold blooded society.

Womenses checks how women fought to reclaim their rights to perform the ritualistic art form of Theyyam and participation in Kaliyattom. Man is free to tweak the codes of tradition to his convenience while women are being locked into its confines. The film examines how and why women got categorised as mere spectators in rituals, questions why she became untouchable and is being shooed away from being active partakers of rituals and ceremonies.

Nari Monchan, from a secluded tribe, grapples with dwindling female presence, possessiveness in marriage, and revelations about his father that unravel his beliefs. As he confronts ancestral traditions and the legacy of the Indian Emergency, his journey becomes a search for identity, shaped by personal fears and buried truths. The film explores the fragile balance between tradition, desire, and self-discovery. This is the first film in Cholanaikka language spoken by the eponymous cave people.