Akshadhoodu (1993)

Bleak but commercially successful melodrama about the breakdown of a poor Christian family. Annie’s (Madhavi) husband (Murali) is killed and she has leukaemia. Assisted by a concerned priest, Father Vattappara (Venu), she tries to get her four children adopted into different homes before she dies. The relentlessly manipulative story is interesting in its depiction of the Church and its role in the life of Kerala’s large Christian community. The film was also made in Telugu (Mathru Devo Bhava, 1993).