Don Palathara’s Indian Drama ‘Monkey Play’ Selected for Vancouver’s Inaugural Works-in-Progress Lab (EXCLUSIVE)

“Monkey Play” (“Kurangukali”), the latest project by Indian filmmaker Don Palathara (“1956, Central Travancore,” “Family”), has been selected for the Vancouver Film Festival’s new Business Hub Works-in-Progress program, which showcases up to eight feature-length projects in the final stages of production.

The film, which Variety unveiled last year, follows Sethu and Nikita, who, in the wake of their young daughter’s death, retreat to an isolated house in the hills of Idukki in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Their fragile relationship is disrupted when Sethu encounters a feral child in the forest and brings him home. As the couple’s lives begin to revolve around the child, their grief takes different forms, quietly altering the way they see each other and the world around them.

What begins as an attempt to live with their loss gradually takes them into an uncertain space where memory, perception and reality begin to overlap.

Palathara’s cinema is known for its subtle emotional layers and exploration of human relationships. His previous work includes “Family,” which had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2023, as well as “Everything Is Cinema” (2021), “Joyful Mystery” (2021), “1956, Central Travancore” (2019), “Vith” (2017) and debut feature “Shavam” (2015). His films often tackle complex social realities with a meditative approach that eschews judgment.

“This is a film about the biggest fear of any parent,” Palathara said about “Monkey Play.” “Here, we have decided to face it and look at the aftermath. The film explores that psychological territory through grief, asking what happens when the mind tries to replace someone who is irretrievably gone,” he told Variety.

“Blending psychological thriller, drama and elements of the uncanny, the film uses the landscape of Idukki and the ambiguity between reality and perception to create a deeply intimate yet genre-driven experience.”

“Monkey Play” stars Dileesh Pothan, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Rajesh Madhavan and Arjun Radhakrishnan.

The film is produced by Kerala-based Artisan Films, whose debut feature, “Ekadesham,” is currently in post, Mankind Cinemas and Guardian Angel Films. Producing are Dixon Podudas, Jomon Jacob (“The Great Indian Kitchen”), Amshunath Radhakrishnan, Jose Mathew and Palathara.

Taking place Oct. 1-11, the Vancouver Film Festival’s curated WIP program, which runs Oct. 5-6, will showcase up to eight projects, four Canadian and four international, providing filmmakers with an opportunity to present their films to leading international industry professionals.