Manna Payana

In a world which runs on the steam of individualism, how satisfying can the inner journey be? Does a worldview that looks at a purpose beyond the self, hold currency in a society drained of cultural values and driven solely by market considerations? This is the dilemma that haunts the protagonist. Integral to this experience is the loss of intensity and social integrity that marked the cultural movement of the '70s, particularly after the Emergency. The film aims to capture this existential predicament in its various shades and tones. It is this struggle, perhaps vain, that forms the central theme. And, quite fatalistically, see no logical conclusion. Leaving the protagonist suspended in the grey area between ideals and reality...

Gowri, a documentary filmmaker, travels with her cameraman Vittal to a remote village in search of a musical teacher for her project, which requires her to study how music is shaped by different locations. However the musician is nowhere to be found. The two are forced to wait for his return.

When you’re in a crowd you prefer to be alone. When you’re alone, you want to be part of a crowd. You’re never satisfied with yourself, Wherever you are…… The protagonist of this film is an Indian who is in Finland for three months on a scholarship. His sense of alienation Is not merely because of physical detachment from life familiar to him but also due to a subjective point of view. He feels he is trapped in a dream…a reverie that doesn’t satisfy his soul.

Are we lulled into dreams? Or into reality? Is there a nether world in between? A ten-year-old boy goes to bed . His mother comes up to him and wraps a blanket on him and he slips into a dream… A dream that is frightening and unpleasant -- almost a nightmare. He tries hard to wriggle out of the dream. Just then, his mother walks into the room again and pulls the blanket over him. The boy returns to his dream. Or is it reality? Or is it a third state of being neither in dream nor in reality?