I saw this film with director interview added yesterday and he says the film ended that way so that it leaves the viewer to think. For me the film ended absurdly with the main character (Unni) being thrown in the pond where his younger sis (sridevi) used to drawn the trapped rats, and how much i try to think why it ended this way and i go blank. Plis ENLIGHTEN me on this.
shareMy interpretation is that the ending continues the comparison between Unni and the trapped rats. Both he and the rats are caught and then transported from the house to the pond/river; and water has been used throughout the film as one of the metaphors for how he has become trapped by his own idleness, self-absorption and complete dependence on others.
Early on he tries to travel to a wedding but stops and turns back when he encounters a puddle. Later in the film, when the rain comes, we see him sitting on his porch with the rain cascading from the roof around him like bars in a prison cell, again it's like the water is a barrier to him. His bathing water must be heated to the right temperature, and when his sister isn't there to heat it for him it's like he's paralyzed, unable to go forward. And by the end, when he's encaged himself alone in the house, we suspect he hasn't washed for some time.
Perhaps the river continues the metaphor, and, whereas even the drowned rats found some kind of liberty through death, we see him emerging from the water, still unable to escape. Like a turd that won't flush.
Yes. It also symbolizes his resistance to change. The old feudal system which is now no more has imprisoned him (Rat Trap/water imagery) and his unwillingness to change has destroyed him.
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