Nine Emotions

One of the many stories in the Indian epic Mahabharata tackles human sacrifice during war. The young warrior Aravan, son of the famous Arjuna, is chosen to die. His last wish is to get married. But no girl is willing to marry a man who is to be killed. Therefore, Lord Krishna takes the form of a specific and very beautiful 'woman' called Mohini and marries Aravan. Since that time, all people of the `third gender' desire to become the bride of Aravan. Thousands of gay people, eunuchs and transvestites from all over India gather at the Koovagom festival every year. All Mohinis-to-be symbolically marry a statue of Aravan, but after the statue of Aravan is beheaded, they break their bangles and become widows. Santosh Sivan successfully merges a straight narrative with the poetic layers of this ancient myth. The protagonist, thirteen-year-old Swetha, discovers her uncle Gautam's secret life as transvestite. Trying to help him, she follows him to Koovagom in Tamil Nadu and is confronted with a totally new world. Combining brilliant documentary sections with fictional elements, and with the dominant presence of the famous personality Mumbai Booby Darling, Sivan, not without humour, orchestrates a human drama with freshness and sensitivity. (RS)