India, Oct. 13 -- If there was a list of films that have gotten away with being plain boring by being labelled 'slow burners', it would be quite long. Films that actually justify the tag, however, are few and far between. Gondhal, India's official entry for the Oscars this year, belongs to the latter category.

Finding a show for a Marathi film in Delhi was an achievement worthy of an Oscar in itself. I found exactly one, and was surprised to see that half the theatre had beaten the odds too.

The story revolves around the Gondhal ritual practised in parts of Maharashtra. Set over a single night, it follows Ananda (Yogesh Sohoni), who has just married Suman (Ishita Deshmukh). Sarjerao, a member of the Patil family, the quintessential oppr...