The Cleansing Rites (2005)

Suddha also called The Cleansing Rites is an Indian film, the first ever Tulu language film shot on the digital format.
The 105 minute film was shot in 2004 in a village called Marnad near Mangalore, Karnataka and was released in 2005. The film is an adaptation of the Tulu Sahitya Academy award winning tulu play called Bojja written by Mumbai-based playwriter, Narayana Nandalike. Suddha was produced by three Mumbai Tuluvas Mohan Marnad, Surendra Kumar and Ramchandra PN. It was directed by Ramchandra PN, a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Poona. Suddha was his first feature length film.

Synopsis

Suddha depicts the death of the feudal system that existed among the Tulu speaking community in coastal Karnataka for many years, and the impact of The Land Ceiling Act which was ushered during the sixties and seventies, had on its social structure. It is the story of modern India - of changing caste equations and a realization of this reality among the land owning class, albeit a bit late. Though the film is set in a remote village near Mangalore, it could well have happened in any other village elsewhere in India.