The Rite, a Passion

In a city where tradition clashes with the pull of extremism, Subbaiah Sastry—once a revered Vedic scholar—now ekes out a living hauling corpses in Hyderabad. His neighbors look down on him for practicing Tiladaanam, an ancient rite where he absorbs the sins of the dead for a few coins and their last meal. Meanwhile, his estranged son Raghuram has turned to terrorism, hunted by police and openly defiant of his father. Their fractured bond mirrors the tension between a fading, rigid past and a volatile, uncertain future.