Orphaned eight year-old Kuttappayi lives with his kindly, weather-worn grandfather Valiyappachayi in the spectacular Kerala backwaters of Southern India where they raise flocks of ducks. Fishing, playing, reading, laughing, it’s an idyllic life filled with learning, discovery and a deep respect for nature and the environment until the old man falls ill the boy’s future is suddenly uncertain. Based loosely on Vanka, Chekhov’s short story, Ottaal (The Trap) is a modernised tale set in a Malayalam community about the plight of the poor and powerless as heart-wrenchingly relevant now as was the 18th-Century original.