The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I saw this movie in the mid 1980s; was dating an Indian girl at the time and she introduced me to some Malayalam movies. Malayalam is a language spoken by people who live in the South Indian state of Kerala. (India has 22 major languages and thousands of dialects).Indian movies are not for everyone; most are musicals and the acting is quite over the top for western tastes; however, there are some very good ones mixed in with all the crap. This is one of the better ones. Excellent acting really draws one into the lives of a farmer and his new bride, who is much younger than himself, and who brings along a younger brother to stay with them. The man is annoyed, but resolves to put up with the boy in order to win the trust of his wife (this is an arranged marriage; they know nothing of each other). The poverty and hopelessness of their lives are portrayed with deft touches, and the movie really shines in showing how the joy of living can be experienced even by those who are at the lowermost rungs of society.I don't know whether this movie is even available anymore in any format. Definitely worth a look if you are into well-done foreign movies.