“The film is set amongst a lush natural backdrop in a small village in the Indian state of Kerala. This setting has multiple levels of significance. Firstly, it indicates a movement away from the glamorized, urban images and settings of mainstream Bollywood cinema which dominate the popular culture scene. It shows the possibility of lesbian love existing in villages and other rural areas where urban influences are at a minimum. This then falsifies claims made by certain groups of people that homosexuality does not exist in Indian culture, that is a foreign Other and a product of Westernization. Secondly, the lyrical images of nature and abundant water bodies are closely associated with Kiran and Delilah and their love for each other. It hints at the fluid and open sexuality of the two female protagonists and how grounded their sexuality is in the natural ways of life.Thirdly, Kerala is known for its matrilineal culture (although the influence of the British changed this in many ways), hence making it an appropriate setting for a film that focuses on women—Kiran, Delilah, their mothers and Delilah’s grandmother. For example, the concept of ‘marumakkathayam’ is prevalent in Kerala, which is a matrilineal system of inheritance which was followed by all Nair castes including the royal families. Kiran belongs to the Nair caste in the movie and the scene when she steps into her ancestral house as a child illustrates the matrilineal system of inheritance.”
—Kaur Gurpreet, The Issue of Lesbianism in Contemporary Indian Films: A Comparative Study of Transnational, Bollywood, And Regional Films (2010)
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