Kathmandu, July 29 -- A protagonist's moral ambiguity is rarely announced in a celebratory, character-driven story. However, such is the creative risk taken by the makers of 'Kokuho' and it is the very quality that defines the film's artistic triumph.

The film opens with the New Year's celebration hosted by the leader of a yakuza gang. There, his son, Kikuo performs Kabuki; a traditional Japanese theatre in which onnagata (male actors who specialise in female roles) occupy a revered place. Among the audience is Hanjiro Hanai, regarded as Osaka's greatest Kabuki actor, who is immediately captivated by the fourteen-year-old's talent.

Soon after, the child witnesses his father's murder. Although the story initially appears to be steering t...