Biriyaani

Khadeeja Kani Kusruti endures a loveless marriage, where she is treated as nothing more than an object for her husband’s pleasure. When she seeks her own pleasure, he rebukes her, blaming it on her incomplete circumcision, reinforcing the belief that women should not experience sex. She bears strained relationships with her in-laws, while her mother, plagued by anxiety, battles with her mental health. Though Khadeeja is educated only up to high school, her brother is an engineer who recently returned from the Middle East. His sudden departure triggers another breakdown in their mother, which Khadeeja soothes by promising a feast to commemorate their father’s death anniversary.

News reports warn of radical Wahhabi influence spreading through Malayalees returning from Saudi Arabia, fueling extremist activities. Soon, Khadeeja and her mother are investigated due to her brother’s alleged ties to terrorism. An Investigation Officer Anil Nedumangad is drawn into the case as the community pressures unfold. Under that pressure, her husband divorces her via text, forbids her from contacting their son, and abandons her. Seeking answers, she visits Abubakar, her brother’s handler, who refuses to help, warning them to stay away. The mosque soon excommunicates them. Later, Abubakar brings money from her brother, which she rejects, demanding his return. In a letter, her brother urges her to take their mother to a shrine for healing.

At the shrine, they meet Bijil, a priest who tells them faith alone won’t heal her mother—most visitors come for free meals. Khadeeja observes a woman selling her body and the priest’s hypocrisy in secret self-indulgence. When Bijil confronts her, she mocks religious double standards. Days later, he shows her news of her brother’s death in Kashmir and Abubakar’s arrest. She hides this from her mother. Bijil, having no family left, offers her his home and financial support. They relocate, but Khadeeja resists using his money. When a journalist Mini I G exposes her family’s past, her mother dies in shock. Grieving and destitute, she turns to prostitution, shedding her conservative identity. Bijil disapproves but continues helping her.

Determined to honor her mother’s wish for a memorial feast, she hosts an iftar, inviting even her ex-husband. Before the event, police detain her under false pretences, causing a miscarriage. At the iftar, guests unknowingly consume biryani laced with her stillborn fetus. Bijil, horrified, leaves her, insisting two wrongs don’t make a right. Alone, she feeds a stray dog with her last money before drowning herself.

In her final moments, she imagines being in control of her own body, having sex with her ex-husband as she had always wished.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:25