Director/writer/producer Murali Nair surprised the world with his feature debut several months ago, winning the coveted Camera d'Or prize for first feature at Cannes 1999 with his searing political parody THRONE OF DEATH. The film is a layered loaded tale told with lean close-ups and a keen perceptive lens.

Shot entirely in Kerala, India, it is the simple story of a poor laborer, Krishnan, who is driven by poverty to steal a neighbor's coconuts and, subsequently, is arrested for the crime. Unfortunately, the region's campaign season is heating up, and ruling politicians--concerned about the upcoming election because of an unsolved murder case--are quick to scapegoat Krishnan and accuse him of the deadly crime, immediately sentencing him to death, and thus securing their victories at the polls. Events spiral out of control and Krishnan finds himself in the dubious position of being the first in his country to die "a painless death" by electric chair, developed with a loan from the World Bank and with fashionable technological assistance from the United States. The politicians enact their compassion towards the poor man, and, besides providing him with this painless death, create a ceremonial festival and statue to commemorate the occassion! Ironically he dies a hero.

With the pomp and circumstance surrounding Krishnan's death, director Nair creates a sizzling commentary on universal brands of politics familiar to all too many across the globe.