This film biography tells of the early life of Mani, an artist from the central Asian region of Kirghiz in the Soviet Union. The product of a slave girl and an elderly father, Mani shows artistic ability from an early age. After the birth, his mother kills herself by drowning herself in a river. Enemies of the boy's father break Mani's hand when he is twelve, and the boy is later sent far from home. Decades later, the now-famous artist travels home to his birthplace in hopes of reliving his childhood memories and for a possible reunion with his polygamous father.
Dan Pavlides, www.allmovie.com