Unni, Life is all about friends
Unni is a little boy who lives in a village in Kerala. He belongs to the high caste of Nairs. His friends Raju, Ramu and Gopi, with whom he goes to school, belong to the lower caste known as untouchables. The film is about the relationship between the children and the discoveries they make together about the world they live in.
The children play together and make fun of their teachers. Their world consists of Seethamma teacher, whom they call the 'little elephant'; Madhavan, whom they call 'Iliyan', because of his always smiling face; the nosy headmaster, and the PE teacher whom they call 'moustache' and school’s odd job man Chathan.
The film is structured around a series of little incidents, which follow the children's journey through childhood as they try to make sense of the contradictory world they live in.
Unni's mother and grandmother, traditional Nair matriarchs, strongly disapprove of his friendship with low caste boys. Unni finds himself attracted to Sujatha, the carpenter's daughter. He sends her a love letter through a little boy, who gives it to the wrong girl. His teacher Seethamma finds out about his romance and threatens to tell his father.
Unni's father arrives after a long spell of working abroad. Unni cannot even remember him. The children are taught about the re productive system at the school. Unni wakes up in the middle of the night to hear his parents making love. This troubles him.
A magician arrives in the school. His mother and grandmother think it will be a bad influence on him and refuse to let him go. The smiling teacher, Madhavan, lets him in anyway. Fascinated by the magician, Unni and his friends try out his magic in the playground with other little children, with disastrous consequences. The small incidents in Unni's life build towards the climax of the film. Following a domestic quarrel, Unni's close friend Gopi's father kills his wife and commits suicide. He is compelled to discontinue his studies and go to Bombay. Unni's father goes abroad after finishing his holidays, just as Unni started to know him better.
Unni - Cast
Unni
Gopi
Raju
Ramu
Smiley teacher
Chathan
PE teacher
Head Master
Seethamma teacher
Man carrying ladder
Man riding motorbike
Carpenter
Sujatha
Thankappan
Tea shop owner
Mother
Grandmother
Father
Messenger Boy
Gopis mother
Magician
Boy at the magic show
Announcer
Girls at Prayer
Farm labourers
Dance group
Singers at
School Anniversary
Sarath Kumar. K
Ajith. V. N
Noble.N.L
Likhil. T.S
Kodakara Sukumaran
Sreedharan
Vypin Lenin
Rajan Engakkad
Leela Hari
Bharathan Njarakkal
Soman Moothrathikkara
Mano Mohan
Niya Jose
Swathy Mohan
Santhosh Mash
Raji
Seetha Teacher
Manoj
Krishna Prasad
Janu
Kochumon
Abhishek
Nandkumar
Anjana, Monisha, Meethal,
Ashwathy
Valliyamma, Shyamala,
Thankamani
Jishnu Vasudevan,
Mayookh M.C, Midhun K.S,
Ambareesh Manoharan,
Nikhetu Manohar
Saneesh C.V,
Vishnu Das K,
Jothin K.N,
Pranav P.B,
Nandakumar M.N
Unni - Credits
Produced by
Location Audiography
Sound Design
Editing
Director of photography
Music
Screenplay & Dialogues
Script & Direction
Jean Roke Patoudem,
Murali Nair
Harikumar. M
Madhu Apsara
Lalitha Krishna
Jean Marc Selva
Narayan Mani
Bharathan Njarakkal
Murali Nair
Unni - Funders
Fonds Sud Cinéma (France)
Ministère de la Culture – CNC (France)
Ministère des Affaires Étrangères (France)
Pusan Promotion Plan, Pusan , (South Korea)
Hubertbaals development fund, Rotterdam, (the Netherlands)
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, (Switzerland)