Biriyaani

Khadeeja is treated as an object for her husband's pleasure and is rebuked when she seeks any personal happiness. He insists her sexuality is something she cannot explore, blaming it on her supposed incomplete circumcision. The dynamic establishes an atmosphere of control and isolation that frames much of her later choices.

Khadeeja's brother, an engineer recently back from the Middle East, re-enters the family circle, briefly uplifting the household. His sudden departure soon triggers another collapse in their anxious mother. Khadeeja calms her by promising a feast to mark their father's death anniversary.

The mother's breakdown deepens as the brother leaves, leaving the family in fragility. Khadeeja reassures her, promising to organize a feast for the father’s death anniversary. The event becomes a coping ritual in the face of upheaval.

News reports warn of radical Wahhabi influence among Malayalees returning from Saudi Arabia, fueling extremist activities. The community grows wary of Khadeeja's family under the shadow of fear and suspicion. The climate of distrust foreshadows the coming scrutiny.

Khadeeja and her mother become targets of suspicion due to her brother's alleged ties to terrorism. Under pressure, her husband divorces her via text, forbids contact with their son, and abandons the family. The personal fallout mirrors the era's paranoia.

Khadeeja visits Abubakar, their brother's handler, hoping for answers or aid. He refuses to help and warns them to stay away, deepening her sense of danger and isolation. The encounter marks a turning point toward alternative paths she must navigate alone.

The mosque condemns Khadeeja and her mother, cutting them off from the religious community. Social sanction compounds their hardship and isolates them further from the only community they trusted. The family becomes marked within the local religious sphere.

Abubakar brings money from Khadeeja's brother, but she rejects it, insisting on the brother's return rather than charity. The refusal highlights her desire for accountability and control over her family's fate. Financial relief remains out of reach as the family spirals.

In a letter, Khadeeja's brother urges her to take their ailing mother to a shrine for healing. The message blends family duty with religious practice, pushing Khadeeja toward a path she hadn't fully chosen. This moment foreshadows the shrine's significance in the story.

Khadeeja meets Bijil, a priest at the shrine, who tells her faith alone won't heal her mother and notes that many visitors come for free meals. She privately observes the priest's hypocrisy and self-indulgence, challenging the sanctity of the sanctuary. The encounter seeds doubt and a fragile new dependency.

Bijil later shows her news of her brother's death in Kashmir and Abubakar's arrest, shocking Khadeeja and altering her sense of safety. She keeps this from her mother to spare her distress. Bijil, now with no family, offers Khadeeja a home and financial support.

A journalist exposes their family's past, and Khadeeja's mother dies in shock, leaving Khadeeja grief-stricken and financially desperate. Grief drives Khadeeja toward prostitution, a harsh pivot from her conservative identity, while Bijil continues to offer help despite his reservations.

To honor her mother's memory, Khadeeja plans an iftar and even invites her ex-husband. Police detain her under false pretenses before the event, triggering a miscarriage. The arrest reveals the brutal intersection of personal tragedy and state manipulation.

During the iftar, guests unknowingly eat biryani laced with Khadeeja's stillborn fetus, shocking Bijil and shattering the community's sense of morality. Bijil leaves, insisting that two wrongs do not make a right. Alone, Khadeeja uses her last money to feed a stray dog, facing utter abandonment.

In her final moments, Khadeeja drowns herself, ending the cycle of oppression. The scene shifts to a fantasy where she envisions taking control of her body and having sex with her ex-husband, a wish she long held but never realized in life. The film closes on this paradoxical glimpse of agency amid tragedy.