In Annie Zaidi’s Butnama, a lonely lingerie store owner has a prized mannequin on display. He has returned from Saudi Arabia to run the family business. Hopes of courting a female customer over purchases of inviting inner-wear are dashed: she falls for his sales pitch by saying, “How many times can one get married after all?”

Poor Rinku’s only friend is an equally repressed watchman who gets tremendously excited at the mere sight of the life-loss doll. Butnama (The saga of the mannequin) suggest a sad future ruled by sartorial bans and strict codes of conduct governing male-female relations. Among its fleeting pleasures is Mukul Chadda’s convincing po-faced salesman.

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‘Butnama’.