Oru Nakshatramulla Akasham (Lone Star in the Sky), a Malayalam film produced by Bengaluru-based banner Malabar Movie Makers, has won a prestigious award in the West. Recently, the film has been selected as the ‘Best Feature Film’ at the Washington D.C South Asian Film Festival 2020.
A rare honor
Released in 2019, the makers of the film are buoyed by the honor that the film has received. At the time of its theatrical release too, Oru Nakshatramulla Akasham had made noise for its riveting content and socially-relevant subject.
What is the film all about?
Although the film starts in Bengaluru, the scene then shifts to a scenic locale in Kerala. The film’s central theme is business in education. The makers have utilized a rule by the Kerala Government to drive their plot. The rule states that even if there is one student at a school, the institution cannot be closed.
After the last two students are scared out of the school by the ‘money-minded’ school manager, the sole teacher locates a visually impaired boy to join the school. This aggravates the school-manager who wants to grab the land for real estate development. The teacher-student duo develop a mother-son bond, and after this boy also gets driven away, the subsequent proceedings form the crux of the plot.
There is a subplot involving the stressful married life of the teacher. The movie also tells about the failed love affair of the teacher and a professor in Bengaluru. The professor succumbs to a cardiac arrest, and the teacher becomes mentally unstable due to the circumstances.
The team behind this wonderful movie
While debutantes Ajith Pulleri and Suneesh Babu have directed the movie, MVK Pradeep has produced the film. Sajith Purushan has worked as the cinematographer while Rahul Raj and Deepankuran have provided the music.
The film boasts of a strong star-cast with the likes of Aparna Gopinath, Lal Jose, Ganesh Kumar, Sethulakshmi, Santhosh Keezhattoor, Prajyoth Pradeep, and Eric Zakharia playing prominent roles.
