Khaddama 2011

Razak Kottekkad [Sreenivasan] is a migrant social worker in Saudi Arabia who works to identify “unknown Indians” whose bodies arrive at the mortuary and to secure their return home.

Aswathi [Kavya Madhavan] is a lower-middle-class Malayali woman from Pattambi, Kerala. She marries a thug named Radhakrishnan [Biju Menon] who confesses to her about his premarital life and promises a complete change. Unfortunately, after a short period of happy life, he dies from drowning. Facing the financial strain of her family and the abrupt loss of her husband, Aswathi becomes the breadwinner of the household and decides to pursue work in the Persian Gulf. Usman [Suraj Venjaramoodu], the car driver for an Arab family and a member of Aswathi’s village, arranges her visa and brings her to Saudi Arabia. Once there, she is forced to wear a burqa at all times due to the country’s strict dress code. She is drawn into a harsh, slave-like routine as a maid under a sponsor.

Aswathi endures numerous troubles—sexual abuse and physical violence in the sponsor’s house. She is accompanied by Usman, who had brought her to these circumstances, but he himself abuses power and engages in a sexual affair with the Indonesian maid and is eventually expelled from the sponsor’s household. In a bid to survive, Aswathi helps another maid escape, even as she herself faces further punishment.

The narrative then follows Razak [Sreenivasan] as he traces the missing Aswathi, who had disappeared while trying to flee her torment. Parallel moments show Aswathi encountering a mix of good and bad people, her journey culminating in deportation. After enduring even more hardship, she reconnects with Razak, who has been searching for her all along. He learns the full story and ultimately helps Aswathi return home to Kerala.