The basic story involves an affair in 1950's India between a low-caste actor and an upper-caste woman and the difficulty that ensues from their affair. The two are Kunhikuttan (Mohanlal) a chubby man who performs dance traditions of the Keralan theater of Kathakalini. And she is Subhadra (Suhasini) a beautiful woman who studies religion and lives an isolated life in her palace.

Where the film is so fascinating is in the performances that Kunhikuttan performs and the way that they mirror his own life. Kunhikuttan main performance is a stylized Mahabarata Epic in which he plays a character named Arjuna who was in love with another character name (ironically enough) Subhadra. When the real Subhadra watches the plays – performed in her palace residence – she falls in love with Kunhikuttan. Or rather she falls in love with the character of Arjuna. There seems to be no line between fact and fiction for her yet for Kunhikuttan the irony is too much to bear.

Soon after Kunhikuttan and Subhadra begin an affair they have a son but after Subhadra gives birth she won't allow Kunhikuttan to visit. To add to this slight Kunhikuttan is denied the right to see his own dying father - an upper-caste gentleman whom he has never met - or take place in his father's forthcoming funeral.

On the surface the story within the film seems to be a soap opera about the challenges that befall the rich and the poor in matters of love in a country that doesn't accept such social infractions. And it does have this element, plus it is a bit convoluted at first but it is excellently directed and acted. And on the level of allegory it is very impressive. Especially in the way it deals with the blurred lines between fact, fiction, reality and imagination.

Vanaprastham is most notable for it's theatrical art and traditional dances, which involve elaborate face paint, colorful costumes and communication through singing, pantomime and sign language. If anything the film is an exotic journey into a theatrical world few of us have ever witnessed. The cinematography too - by Santosh Sivan - is remarkable, the music by Ustad Zakir Hussain first-rate, and the editing pace is measured but engrossing.

Video:
Now the bad part. The transfer from video to DVD is awful. It's not that the image is bad it's that the transfer of the film has not been anamorphically squeezed flat so the characters all look very distorted and skinny. I'll admit to being a perfectionist in this matter so I noticed it in the first two seconds. I phoned Vanguard and they acknowledged the mistake but seemed to think that it's not that bad. You be the judge. Other than the noticeable error the colors are sharp and the contrasts are strong.

Audio:
The DVD doesn't specify what the audio is presented in but I would guess in Dolby digital. And it sounds very good. There is a lot of music throughout the film and it sounds clear with good fidelity. The street noises and indoor theatre come across with good ambiance.

Extras:
There are no extras on the DVD. The inside cover has a two question interview with the director. The film is in Hindi and Malayalam with English subtitles.

Overall
This is an excellent East Indian film that combines theatre arts with a relationship between an upper-caste woman and lower-caste man. But unfortunately the DVD transfer is unsatisfactory due to a transfer blunder. I recommend renting it and if you are not bothered by the transfer then buy it. To be fair, I watched the whole film and got used to the image distortion but I can't imagine the filmmaker would approve. I certainly would love to see it properly transfered. If you really want to buy it then I recommend buying the video cassette, which I am told, has been transferred correctly.