Human beings undergo several emotions and feelings. Fear is a very strong and deep emotion any person can undergo. Since human imagination knows no bounds,
to every phenomena that is inexplicable or ineffable, they attributed a character, human
or inhuman which was associated with supernatural powers. In cinema, this element of fear has been manifested in several ways. Horror movies exploit variegated themes ranging from sex and death, self and the soul, our own beastly nature inside, fears that exist within ourselves and our collective unconsciousness. What frightens humans at home and work, including aging, guilt, mortality, shame, and lost love; we tend to connect to the seen, unseen, and the invisible, the known and the unknown, the explained and the unexplained, mystery and science. The horror movies recognise that our fears are not just our own but a basis upon which we all can connect.
In Malayalam cinema, representation of the unknown has been manifested in several ways. The fear of the existence of the unknown, and man’s journey to find the reason for its presence and to erase it has become the essence of many films. From the concept of Yakshi, to pretham, bhootham, and so on Malayalam cinema has come a long way in its representation of the unknown.
Manichithrathazhu(1993), hailed as one of the biggest milestones in Malayalam cinema which can be placed in the category of ‘horror’ as well as a ‘psycho-thriller’ is an amalgamation of traditional old beliefs of yakshi and modern Psychiatry. This movie produced after a period of around thirty years after the release of Bhargavinilayam(1964), first horror film in Malayalam in the concept of Yakshi; brings
out deviancy in a much different light. Movies that came till then mostly had tantric rituals
in order to get rid of the deviance, whereas Manichithrathazhubrings out traditional ways of exorcism but also modern science and psychiatry into play.
The character Ganga enacted by Shobana is a representation of any modern woman. Eager and curious on everything that stumbles upon her, the lonely mindscape of Ganga gives space to all the outside thoughts to grow inside her. Ganga is that educated modern woman married off to a traditional family where she is treated as an outsider from the very beginning.
The place where Ganga and her husband comes to is Madampallitharavadu which
is entwined in myths and ghost stories of Nagavalli. Here, the yakshiimage is attributed to Nagavalli whom nobody has seen. It was Bhargavinilayam that was the abode of the yakshiBhargavi and here it is MadampalliTharavadu and thekkini to be precise which is believed to be the abode of the yakshiNagavalli. The reference of the houses in both these films, and the well where Bharagvi is believed to exist within, and thekkini which is believed to be the abode of Nagavalli, both suggests the confined spaces conferred upon women by the society. These women when let free can be fierce and strong and can question or fight back against the society, the fear of which makes the society to put her within the chambers of the four walls is what is shown through the image of thekkini. Manichithrathazhu is also a portrayal of the male dominated society and world that works by controlling women and her dreams. The major female characters in the movie Nagavalli, Ganga, and Sridevi, are representations of the suppressed females, Nagavalli 200 years back and Ganga and Sridevi in the modern period.
Nagavalli was killed by the kaaranavar of the tharavadu hundreds of years back estranging her from her dream and love that was dance and Ramanathan, which is no less similar to the estrangement of other characters such as Ganga and Sridevi who are estranged from their own worlds. For Ganga it is her individual freedom and fantasy world which is again interrupted and trespassed by the
patriarchal forces and
representatives of
patriarchy including
her parents and
husband. Sridevi who
is confined to the
walls of her house
due to ‘chovadosham’
(a belief where a
woman with chova
dosham is not likely to get married or people refuse to proceed marriage proposals), and is initially blamed for the misfortunes happening in the family. These three women charcaters, who belong to two different time periods are compared, the plight of them are more or less the same. Also Bhargavi (in Bhargavinilayam) and Nagavalli (in Manichithrathazhu) are both who got killed when they found their love and wanted to live with them. Ganga and Sridevi are two other representations of the women of the late twentieth century, though educated, has no voice other than to live according to familial wishes, otherwise of which, they will be stamped as deviant, which initially happened with Sridevi and later with Ganga. The patriarchal forces in action in the movie are the karanavar, Nakulan (Ganga’s husband), Dr. Sunny Joseph the psychiatrist who comes to treat her and take her from the fantasy world she was in, the tantric expert BharamaduttanNampoothiri, and all the major male characters of Madampallitharavadu.
Other than the repression of the female class, the film also throws light on the feudal lords and how it worked and how they treated the lowly. The kaaranvar character is a perfect example
of a feudal lord of high caste and Nagavalli and Ramnadhan who are poor and belong to a low caste.
With strong importance on dance and music, the movie was a new experience for the audience when it came to the horror genre. The songs which are still haunting, and “OruMuraivanthuparthayaa” has become a milestone in Malayalam cinematic songs itself. In Manichithrathazhuthe fear in the minds of the audience was not spoon fed, but slowly induced.
The sound effects ranging from opening of a door to screaming of a woman, the fear in the minds of the audience grew slowly even without seeing a ghost on the screen. The movie played with the psyche and the minds of the audiences reminding them of Nagavalli and Ganga could be any woman that they know.
A blend of comedy and horror together, with the evil forces such as patriarchy and feudalism, and a conflict between modernity and a traditional society Manichithrathazhuis a perfect example for social forces triggering the minds. Deviancy in Manichithrathazhufor the audience was a unique experience when compared to the ghost stories that were produced till then, which portrayed the ghosts possessing the protagonists and killing the evil through them.
But when it came to Manichithrathazhu, audiences were too confronted with the psychology behind it, that everything that comes out as deviant is a play of our very own minds, wherein each and every one has a big role in it. Thus from Bharagvi to Nagavalli and Ganga, the tales come out as similar, the plight of women being similar, only the contexts being different, clearly showing the external actions ie, the patriarchal forces still playing a big role in their subordinations.
Many movies that came thereafter had the interference of a psychologist into the deviancy thus showing, it is the mind that gets affected be it a man or a woman, but most often a woman who is seen suffering, again showing that patriarchy was in and still in force for decades.
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