Malgudi Days

Swami’s father grows tired of what he considers his son’s cowardice and orders him to sleep alone in the office for a night. Terrified Swami reluctantly obeys, only for an unexpected encounter in the darkness to transform him into a local hero.

After Independence, Malgudi’s ambitious municipal chairman launches a campaign to remove colonial names and symbols from the town. The Talkative Man becomes involved when an enormous statue of Sir Frederick Lawley is declared unwanted and offered for disposal.

Having acquired Lawley’s gigantic statue, the Talkative Man discovers that removing it is only the beginning of his problems. When evidence emerges that Lawley may actually deserve public honour, the municipality desperately tries to reverse its decision.

A miserly landlord becomes convinced that something supernatural is haunting his storehouse after a brass pot begins moving mysteriously. Terrified tenants summon an exorcist, unaware that the supposed spirit has a far more ordinary explanation. TheTVDB

A seemingly gifted astrologer is confronted by a sceptical stranger who challenges him to reveal details of his past. The encounter becomes deeply personal when the astrologer realises that his customer is connected to a violent secret he has carried for years.

Dr Raman is famous for giving patients an unvarnished assessment of their chances of survival. When his closest friend becomes critically ill, the doctor must decide whether absolute honesty is still a virtue when hope itself might influence the outcome.

Overworked clerk Venkat promises his young daughter Shanta that he will finally take her to the cinema. But an unexpected development at the office traps him between the needs of his family and the demands of the job on which they depend.

Unemployed Ranga reluctantly searches for work and is offered four rupees to retrieve a valuable vessel from a frighteningly deep well. His efforts to avoid the dangerous assignment only lead to increasingly comic negotiations with the household that hired him.

A writer seeking peace unexpectedly acquires Annamalai, an uneducated but hardworking labourer who remains at his new home. Annamalai becomes servant, cook, watchman and gardener, and an unlikely bond develops between two men from very different worlds. TheTVDB

The writer grows increasingly dependent on Annamalai, but their friendship is tested when Annamalai needs to return to his village to settle a personal dispute. Separation reveals the depth of their attachment and the quiet loyalty that has developed between master and servant.

Gopinath is a notorious miser who values every coin and reluctantly spends money even on his own grandson. When the boy disappears during an outing to the cinema, Gopinath suddenly discovers that his carefully guarded wealth is powerless against genuine fear and affection.

The Talkative Man recalls a strange nighttime journey with the usually dependable driver Daas, who swerves near an abandoned temple to avoid someone no one else can see. Soon Daas begins speaking and behaving like a man who claims to have died centuries earlier.