The story revolves around a male Kathakali artist Kunhikuttan, an admirable and respected performer but a member of a lower caste. He struggles to come to terms with the rejection and estrangement of his father, a member of an upper caste who denies his son. Poor, unhappy, and stuck in an arranged marriage that provides no relief, he gets by for the sake of his daughter. One night, whilst performing as Putana from Poothanamoksham from the epic Mahabharata on stage, his performance is witnessed by Subhadra, an educated and married upper-caste women, niece of the Dewan and an aspiring composer. Impressed by his performance she invites him to play Arjuna in her adaptation of Subhadraharanam. Defying the norms of India's rigid caste system, the two have an affair which results in a son. But it soon becomes clear that Subhadra loves the character Arjuna from his stage performances, and not Kunhikuttan the artist. More in love with the valiant, noble hero of the Mahabharata, than the lower-caste dancer Kunhikuttan, she rejects him and refuses to let him see his son. Denied access to his son, and rejected by his father, Kunhikuttan returns to the stage, leaving behind his hero roles to play demonic characters, reaching within the dark corners of his mind, becoming increasingly resentful and full of anger, until one last dance which brings the feature to a stunning end Subhadraharanam.
The film premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 1999, where it was selected at the Un Certain Regard section. In 2014, the film was screened retrospective during the 45th International Film Festival of India in the Celebrating Dance in Indian cinema section. Writing for Variety, film criticEmanuel Levy said that "The Last Dance, which marks noted Indian cinematographer-director Shaji Karun's third appearance in Cannes, is an elaborately produced, exceedingly handsome period film about the art form of Kathakali, which combines dance, pantomime and theater Through his meticulous mise-en-scene and well-crafted production, director Karun offers poignant commentary on the political and mythic role of artists in a rapidly changing society, and the fine line between the characters they play onstage and off".
Awards
The film has been nominated for the following awards since its release: ;1999 Cannes Film Festival Competed at the Un Certain Regard section ;1999 AFI Fest
Won - Mathrubhumi Film Award for Best Actor - Mohanlal
Soundtrack
The music for the film was composed by Zakir Hussain. The soundtrack album was distributed by Universal Music France, it was released on 1 October 1999 in Europe.
Legacy
Vanaprastham was the first Indian film made in Panavision format. Mohanlal's performance in the film is often regarded by critics as one of the best performances in his career. Vanaprastham was Karun's third directorial after Piravi and Swaham and it was the third time his film getting selection at the Cannes Film Festival. After the screening of the film, the Government of France conferred him with the title Ordre des Arts et des Lettres ; Karun responded that "I think they gave me the award because all three of my films were premiered at Cannes - a very rare honour". Impressed with his work in Vanaprastham, A. Sreekar Prasad was hired by Mani Ratnam for editing Alaipayuthey, who later becomes his regular editor. In 2005, Mohanlal listed Vanaprastham in his list of top ten best Indian films of all time. In 2013, in an online poll conducted by CNN-IBN on their website as part of the 100 years celebration of Indian cinema, Vanaprastham came ninth in the poll for finding the "greatest Indian film ever". In 2016, on the occasion of India celebrating its 70th Independence day, news agency NDTV compiled a list called "70 Years, 70 Great Films" and Vanaprastham was among the four Malayalam films that found place in the list.
