Pathemari: The story of a man’s sacrifices for the sake of his family

Before the 90s economic boom in India, there was a mass exodus of people migrating illegally to the Arabian Gulf in search of employment. This dangerous trip across the Arabian Sea was very common among Malayalis and it helped several families earn a decent living. The 2015 film, Pathemari, directed by Salim Ahamed tells the story of a man named Pallikkal Narayanan who traveled to the ‘Gulf’ in the 60s on an illegal sailing vessel called the Pathemari, in the hopes of securing a better life for his family.