Plot
Naalu Pennungal is the story of four women from Kuttanad in Alappuzha district in Kerala. The stories are set in the years between the 1940s to the 1960s.
Oru Niyamalankanathinte Kadha
The first story profiled is the story of a street prostitute Kunjipennu and Pappukutty who decide to start a life as husband and wife. They have bound themselves in matrimony that does not have any legal sanction. When the law catches up with them, they do not have anything that can be an evidence of their commitment towards each other. The story ends in the court scene where the helpless couple are punished for the crime of prostitution.
Kanyaka
Kumari - literally, a virgin girl- is a farm worker who shouldered the responsibility of running her household at a very early age. Her father, having realized her advancing age, accepts a suitable marriage proposal for her. After the wedding, her husband, Narayanan, behaves strangely, as he evades any kind of contact with her including verbal conversation and sexual activity. The husband's mysterious behaviour is accentuated by his glut. After a few days, the couple make the customary visit to Kumari's house. Narayanan, leaves Kumari in her house after the visit and never returns to take her back. As days pass, rumours spread that she has been abandoned by him because of her infidelity. Her father unable to bear the shame of it, picks up a fight with the neighbour who had brought the marriage proposal. Kumari, who had maintained silence so far, emerges from the house and declares that the marriage never happened.
Chinnu Amma
Chinnu Amma is a childless housewife. She lives a fairly contented life with her loving husband. Her husband works in a nearby town and she spends her time alone at home. One day, she is visited by Nara Pillai, a former classmate. Nara Pillai had run away to Tamil Nadu, long ago and now visits his village rarely. He is said to have made good in Tamil Nadu and speaks Malayalam with a heavy Tamil accent even when he is back in Kerala. Through their conversations we realize that they both had an amorous encounter in their youth, from which Chinnu Amma escaped narrowly due to her fear of getting pregnant out of wed-lock. Nara Pillai assumes that she is vulnerable and attempts to talk her into bed, promising her a healthy off spring. Chinnu Amma's mind vacillates, but in the end of the movie she boldly declines the offer.
Nithyakanyaka
The last one, is about an upper-middle-class girl named Kamakshi. She has a quiet life in a family composed of her widowed mother, an elder brother and two sisters. The story begins with a marriage proposal for her, which fails as the groom prefers her younger sister. She silently witnesses the marriage. As years pass on, her elder brother also gets married. As she walks towards middle age, her youngest sister also gets married. Once the mother passes away, she is forced to move in with her younger sister's family. Things seem to go well initially, with her getting close to her nieces. Her sister's husband apologizes to her, for being the reason for her failed marriage proposal. But, soon problems surface as her sister gets jealous of her and starts imagining a non-existing affair with her husband and her. She goes back home alone, refusing to live with either her brother or the youngest sister. She finally has broken the shackles of others controlling her life and has decided to live on her own.
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