SET in the small Indian village of Kerala, this is the story of the first man ever to be executed by the "electronic chair". The story is based on the life and death of a poor villager, Krishnan. He is a member of the lowest caste and spends his days slaving in the fields. For this excruciating physical work he is not even paid enough to feed his family.

Facing starvation he attempts to steal a few coconuts from his master's tree, but is caught and imprisoned for thievery. Because he is arrested during a time of political upheaval the ruling party decides to charge him with an unsolved murder as well. The sentence for this is death.

The film moves slowly and with little dialogue. Much of the tragedy is expressed in the simple and saddened expressions of his wife and child. The horror of the injustice is captured with understated simplicity, and is balanced with a value system that is culturally predetermined.

The electric chair, coined appropriately by the villagers the "throne of death", is considered a blissful and painless form of execution and becomes a cause for celebration. Krishnan's death makes him a martyr representing a symbolic achievement for India's progress towards democracy.

This view that modern technology is to be a revered and welcome force, is shown to be on the one hand strikingly absurd and on the other hand inevitable. A fascinating and disturbing film.