Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala 1998

Vijayan, the village school teacher, believes that his degree in economics will open doors for the business ventures he pursues, but his plans are always short-lived. He takes long leaves from work and wanders from one scheme to another, each one more doomed than the last, leaving his family to bear the strain of his restless ambitions.

The film opens with a gentle, almost comic glimpse into the misery of his benevolent wife Shyamala and their two daughters as Vijayan disappears again for his latest idea — a tentative attempt to shoot a short ad film at the urging of a friend. The plan quickly falls apart; he has hardly any film-set experience and ends up fleeing the set, realizing that he cannot wing this project as he does with other schemes. His father, Karunan, known to everyone as Mash, grows worried about his son and his daughter-in-law, while their children watch the growing gaps between work and responsibility widen.

Karunan’s concerns are shared by Achuthan Nair, the elder of the family’s in-laws, who sees the need for change. He and Mash propose a drastic remedy: Vijayan should undertake the yearly pilgrimage to the Sabarimala hilltop temple, a journey that demands discipline, faith, and a reordering of life. Despite initial resistance, Vijayan agrees, drawn by the fear of losing ground in his life and the chance to prove himself through a period of strict observance — a 41-day fast and abstinence that marks a turning point.

Sabarimala proves transformative at first. On returning, Vijayan appears to swing to the far end of the spectrum: he embraces vegetarianism, prayer, and a life of frugality, stepping away from ordinary work and family duties. He withdraws into an almost ascetic existence at an ashram, where daily routines become a relentless cycle of devotion and self-denial. This new life, however, clashes with the realities of the outside world. The other residents come to realize he has a family and depart, assuming that he can be sustained by faith alone. They fear that his aim as a sanyasi is to conjure money and wealth rather than to serve, a trap used by some fake ascetics.

Inside the ashram, the head of the place, The Headmaster, helps Vijayan confront his insecurities and urges him to carry the burden of responsibility rather than escape it. He teaches that true freedom and wisdom grow from self-knowledge and accountability, not from running away from one’s duties. Yet Vijayan’s stubborn aspiration for a life free from ordinary obligations makes him increasingly unwelcome, and he eventually leaves the ashram to return home. To his shock, his family has moved on without him, surviving through mutual support and even loans from a tailoring business contract his wife had taken during his absence.

As life resumes in the house, the narrative shifts to the resilience of the family unit. His wife, standing firm, encourages her sister to finish her studies and to pursue employment that would grant her an equal voice within the family. Vijayan, now confronted with the consequences of his departure, seeks to reconnect through acts and mediation, but his wife rebukes him for descending into a “new low.” She reminds him of the long months of waiting and the nights she endured when he left, acknowledging that many advised her to remarry, yet she held on to the hope of his return. If this is the resolution he has reached, she tells him, he should go where he wishes.

In the end, a genuine change of heart brings Vijayan back to his vocation. He returns to his duties as a teacher, and the film closes on a scene of him walking home with his wife and children along a road where Communist marchers and Sabarimala pilgrims move in opposite directions, a visual symbol of competing paths in a country and a family that has weathered many storms together.