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ManichithrathazhuMy musings on one of the greatest Malayalam film of all time

Much has already been written about the classic film of the 90s Manichithrathazhu. Released in 1993 it

was one of those rare films which was highly appreciated critically as well as commercially (In fact it wasthe highest grossing film of that year).Directed by Fazil who in turn was assisted by his protgs

Siddique-Lal, Priyadarshan, and Sibi Malayil, the film has since become as cult classic and is without

question Fazils best film . Fazil himself has admitted that he could not top this achievement till date.Essentially a psychological thriller, it was infused with comedy to make it more sellable to the average

audience. Still if you keep those lighter moments aside the film emerges as a brave attempt at exploringthe intricacies of the human mind, a film in which science and logic emerges victorious over superstition

which had clouded the truth.

The full plot can be read from this link :

The fim was written by Madhu Muttam a relatively unknown script writer at the time . He is said to have

been inspired a tragedy that happened in Alummoottil Tharavadu, according to google . I searched a loton this topic to find out what that tragedy was but could not get any definite data . Then I came across thiswebsite maintained by the current generation of Alummoottil Family. They were a powerful Ezhava clan

from alappuzha who were quite close to Travancore Royal Family. They had amassed huge wealth

through various ventures and had the were give the title of channar for the karanavar(head of thefamily). An incident mentioned in the website related to the last karanavar of the family stuck a chord.

Here is the excerpt from the website:

Kochukunju Channar III, who was very close to King Sreemoolam Thirunal during the period of his

Karanavarship from 1903 to 1921. Unfortunately, there was no unity in the family at this time because ofhis undiplomatic and uncompromising attitude. This finally led to his assassination in 1921. Sreedharan

Channar, his nephew was the prime-accused in that case and he was awarded capital punishment by theking, at the age of 24, in 1922.

This Kochukunju Channar was one of the richest of the family. He is said to have had three wives. He

had built the alummoottil meda in 1906. This grand mansion can still be seen near kayamkulam. He wasthe only person beside the King of Travancore to own a car in 1921. He lived a glorious life enjoying his

riches and using his political power to his advantage. But his autocratic approach did not go well with hisown family

The resentment reached its climax when the Karanavar was literally hacked to death inside this meda(seen in picture) by a family member. This was the only documented tragedy that had happened in the

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history of Alummoottil family. Maybe Madhu Muttom who resided near this place had heard about thisincident and used this idea to create legend of Nagavalli, and her horrible murder at the hands of

madampalli karanavar.In the movie too the ancestral house where the story takes place is referred to asMeda.

The story of Ganga and her psychosis maybe have been inspired by the many cases of dual/multiple

personality disorders observed and documented by psychiatrists all over the world. Madhu Muttomshould be appreciated for weaving together these two different scenarios and making up an interesting

story. It is interesting to note that he too like Fazil has failed to top this achievement and not producedany new interesting scripts till date.

There are numerous reviews and analysis of the films plot available over the internet. Some are reallyinteresting and thought provoking. Some really bizarre-like an analysis which concludes that Nakulan andDr Sunny are Gay Partners! Hence Nakulans avoidance of physical relation with his wife Ganga and

Dr.Sunnys closeness with Chandu. Another states that Gangas infatuation with Nagavalli is not justmental but physical . The reviewer says that Ganga is a lesbian and she is experiencing a sexual ecstasy

by dressing up as Nagavalli which gives her the sensation of having sex with her. I find these ideas absurdbut they make quite and interesting reading!

One thing is pretty clear though. Nakulan is a workaholic. He is married to his work more than his wife.Its his over dedication to his profession which causes him to ignore Ganga unknowingly. There arenumerous scenes in the movie which shows how self indulgent Nakulan becomes ignoring those aroundhim when work takes over him. But he also has genuine affection for his wife and family members,shown by his breaking down when he finds out about Gangas illness and when he rescues Alli from the

locked room.

We can see that Ganga never shows any disappointment when Nakulan shows no interests in herconversations. She is quite used to being avoided by the persons she love. Her parents had left her at a

tender age to build their lives. The same feeling of loneliness had come back to her living inside the hugemeda.Avoided by her husband, her mind begins to create a fantasy world to keep itself engaged andamused. He feeling of sympathy and empathy with the character of Nagavalli finally leads her to assumeher personality and to accomplish what nagavalli couldnt; the death of the autocratic Karanavar. The

Karanavar symbolized control ,Gangas mind wanted to overcome this control and be the controller of herdestiny. She wanted to do as she pleased. By being nagavalli she became larger than life, intilling fear inothers. Her mind thoroughly enjoyed this and gradually wanted to assume this personality after dissolvingthe meek personality of Ganga.

The serious scenes in the movie where Dr. Sunny discusses Gangas illness with Nakulan andBrahmadathan Nampoodiripaadu might evoke a chuckle or two today, but it was still an honest attempt

by the film maker to bring a sense of scientific foundation to the whole scenario. This rooting of thefilm in logic and reason even when happenings tend to veer towards the supernatural is one of main

factors which make this film a classic.

Some things stick out like a sore thumb when you see the film now. Like the Songs.

The scene where Dr.Sunny locks in Sreedevi accusing her of trying to poison Nakulan. At the end of this

emotionally charged sequence, he suddenly breaks out into a song!(Pazham thamizh paattu). It could havebeen avoided or should have been a background track without any of the characters actually singing it.

The singing by ganga at midnight inside the thekkini is heard only by Dr.Sunny and no one else in thehouse. This is when the whole family had moved in to protect Nakulan! Its hard to believe that everyone

elase had a sound sleep when most would have remained sleepless due to the reputation of the house.

The songs abruptly burst out onto the unsuspecting audience breaking the flow of thenarrative.(Palavattom pookkaalam,Varuvaanillaarumee..)

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In my opinion only the final song-Oru murai vanthu- was the only necessary one because it was crucial tobring the story to its climax.

In concluding one can safely say if you ignore some of these anomalies this movie will rank among thebest in the world.