
Daayam
Drama Malayalam
The unexpected demise of her mother turns teenager Kalyani’s life upside down. As the relatives disperse, she and her father are left alone, struggling to cope with the void in their midst. In the weeks that follow, it is not just the grief she has to deal with, but also some harsh realisations about the patriarchal and hypocritical society around her. As events unfold, Kalyani finds herself becoming more and more disillusioned with the progressive, considerate father she used to idolise. The film portrays the girl's journey of coming to terms with her loss and finding a way forward.
| Cast: | Aathira Rajeev, Pradeep Kumar, K.R. Aromal, Ranjini George, Rini Udayakumar, |
|---|---|
| Director: | Prasanth Vijay |
| Writer: | Indu Lakshmi |

Guild Reviews

A teenager’s coming-of-age saga while navigating grief

(Written for The Common Man Speaks)
Daayam, which is a Malayalam film, takes place in a town in Kerala. Kalyani (Aathira Rajeev) is going through the most emotionally challenging period of her life after her mother passed away a few days back in the most unexpected manner. Her house is full of relatives as they need to complete a few rituals for the departed. There are murmurs about all not being well between her mother and father Raghu (Pradeep Geedha) in recent times. Kalyani mentally takes stock of these situations as she tries settling into a new life with her father.

Subtle And Mellow Study Of Bereavement

In his sophomore venture, Daayam (Inheritance), Prasanth Vijay tiptoes gently and noiselessly into the inner world of a girl dealing with the premature death of her mother. The result is a subtle, mellow study of bereavement and its upshots. The independent Malayalam-language film makes a sharp departure from the conventions of the coming-of-age genre. It uses the muted and delicate narrative approach of the kind that marked the director’s critically acclaimed 2017 debut, The Summer of Miracles.

Prasanth Vijay’s ‘Daayam’ explores grief and coming to terms with it

Grief does not always arrive as a torrent. Sometimes, it seeps in ever so slowly, evoked by things which used to be mundane till a few days ago. In Prasanth Vijay’s film Daayam (Inheritance), being screened in the Malayalam Cinema Today section of the 28th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), an old voice note from her deceased mother about some daily chores brings 17-year old Kalyani (Aathira Rajeev) to tears.
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