Manichithrathazhu

''Manichitrathazhu'' () is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language epic psychological horror film directed by Fazil, written by Madhu Muttam, and produced by Swargachitra Appachan. The film stars Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Shobana with Nedumudi Venu, Innocent, Vinaya Prasad, K.P.A.C.Lalitha, Sridhar, K.B.Ganesh Kumar, Sudheesh, and Thilakan in supporting roles. The story is inspired by a tragedy that happened in the Nair ''tharavad'', a central Travancore family, in the 19th century.

Directors Sibi Malayil, Priyadarshan and Siddique–Lal served as the second-unit directors. The cinematography was by Venu, and Anandakuttan and Sunny Joseph served as the second-unit cinematographers, the film was edited by T. R. Shekar. The original songs featured in the movie were composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan, while the original score was composed by Johnson. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Shobhana was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Ganga / Nagavalli.

The film dealt with an unusual theme which was not common in Indian cinema at the time. The film completed 300 days of run in many theatres. ''Manichitrathazhu'' was remade in four languages – in Kannada as ''Apthamitra'' which in turn was remade in Tamil as ''Chandramukhi'' , in Bengali as ''Rajmohol'' and in Hindi as ''Bhool Bhulaiyaa'' – all being commercially successful. ''Geethaanjali'', a spin-off directed by Priyadarshan and Mohanlal reprising the role of Dr. Sunny Joseph was made in 2013. ''Manichitrathazhu'' is considered by many critics as one of the best films ever made in Malayalam cinema and developed a cult following in the years after its release.

Plot

Years ago, Nakulan's uncle, Thampi, wanted him to marry his daughter Sreedevi. Nakulan's mother, Sharadha, rejected the proposal as Sreedevi's horoscope was an ominous one. Later Nakulan falls in love with Ganga and they get married. Sreedevi is also married, but her marriage ends up in a divorce.

In the present day, Ganga and Nakulan arrive at their hometown from Kolkata. Thampi learns that Nakulan has decided to stay at the family mansion named Madampalli, despite all attempts to dissuade them. The couple moves in with the help of the family including Thampi's wife and children, Thampi's sister Bhasura, her husband Unnithan, and their daughter Alli.

Later Bhasura reveals the reason why everyone fears the mansion. About 150 years ago, Sankaran Thambi Karanavar, the then head of the family traveled to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, where he met and fell for a dancer named Nagavalli. However, she did not reciprocate his feelings as she was already in love with another dancer named Ramanathan. As a result, Karanavar took her back to his palace by force. Unknown to him, Nagavalli made Ramanathan stay in a cottage next to the palace and met him secretly. When Karanavar discovered this, he slew Nagavalli on a Durgashtami night in her room named Thekkini situated at the southwest corner of the house. Nagavalli's ghost tried to take her revenge. The Karanavar with the help of various priests and sorcerers tamed the ghost by locking it up in the same room, but committed suicide shortly afterward.

In the present day, Alli and Mahadevan (a college professor) are in love, and their marriage is fixed. Listening to Nagavalli's story, Ganga thinks that it was fabricated to scare thieves from stealing treasures in the room. So, Ganga gets the room key's duplicate from Alli and opens the room. She is scolded by Sreedevi, for the locksmith and the man who gave the key to Alli, have both been bedridden.

Subsequently, strange things begin to happen in the household; apparitions of a woman frighten the people in the house, things inexplicably break, and Ganga's ''sari'' catches fire during the day. The needle of suspicion falls on Sreedevi, who is generally found to be gloomy. Nakulan immediately calls up his psychiatrist friend Dr. Sunny from the United States to solve the case. As soon as Sunny arrives, an unknown person tries to kill Alli by locking her up in a storeroom.

Sunny also uncovers other incidents such as an attempt to kill Nakulan by poisoning, as well as a mysterious voice singing from upstairs during the night.

Ganga mysteriously disappears during a Kathakali Night. Sunny notices her absence and searches for her, and with Nakulan's help finds Ganga, who is apparently being harassed by Mahadevan.

After the confusions settle, Sunny reveals to Mahadevan and Nakulan that all the problems in the house are orchestrated by Ganga, who suffers from split personality disorder. Sunny tells them that Ganga who frequently transforms into Nagavalli's personality tried to kill Alli and Nakulan (who impersonates the Karanavar) and frame Mahadevan for sexual harassment by Nagavalli's alter ego. Mahadevan impersonates her lover Ramanathan since the former stays at the same house Ramanathan did. By framing Mahadevan, Ganga's alter ego planned to stop his marriage to Alli and get him back. Now the only way to stop Nagavalli's influence on Ganga is to make her believe that she killed her enemy Karanavar on Durgashtami.

Thampi calls in a renowned tantric expert, Brahmadathan Namboothiripad to solve the family's menace. To everyone's surprise, Sunny and Brahmadathan are long-time friends and they discuss the matter deeply as Sunny makes a rather unconventional plan to cure Ganga. Before carrying out his plan, Sunny asks Nakulan to provoke Ganga to see for himself whether she turns into the Nagavalli spilt persona or not. When Nakulan does so, she transforms into her Nagavalli persona, which shocks him. A worried Nakulan shouts at Ganga, turning her back to normal.

On Durgashtami night, Sunny and Brahmadathan allow Nagavalli to behead Nakulan posing as the Karanavar. Brahmadathan suddenly blows smoke and ash on Ganga's face when she is given a sword to kill Nakulan. Simultaneously Sunny turns a part of the platform over to let Nakulan escape, and a lifeless dummy of the Karanavar gets sliced instead. Convinced that her enemy is dead, Nagavalli leaves Ganga's body, permanently curing her.

The family bids farewell to Ganga, Nakulan, and Sunny. Sunny expresses his desire to marry Sreedevi before leaving, for which she responds with a smile.

Cast

* Mohanlal as Dr. Sunny
* Suresh Gopi as Nakulan
* Shobana as Ganga and Nagavalli (voiceover by Bhagyalakshmi and Durga.)
* Nedumudi Venu as Thampi
* Vinaya Prasad as Sreedevi
* Rudra as Alli
* Sridhar as Mahadevan (Dancer Ramanathan in Ganga's hallucination)
* Sudheesh as Chandhu
* Innocent as Unnithan
* K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Bhasura
* Thilakan as Pullattuparam Brahmadathan Namboothiripad
* Kuthiravattam Pappu as Kattuparamban
* K. B. Ganesh Kumar as Dasappan Kutty
* Vaijayanthi as Jayasree
* Kuttyedathi Vilasini as Thampi's wife

Production

Filming

The haunting Thekkini was created inside the Vasan House in Chennai, the house of late S. S. Vasan, the founder of Gemini Studios. It was one of the film’s key locations apart from Padmanabhapuram Palace and Hill Palace.
The climax scene and major parts of the film were filmed in Padmanabhapuram Palace and Hill Palace, Tripunithura. The painting of Nagavalli was made by artist Shri R. Madhavan, drawn without a live model.

Dubbing credits

Shobana's voice was dubbed by two dubbing artistesBhagyalakshmi and Durga. Bhagyalakshmi dubbed her voice for Ganga, while Durga gave voice to the character's alter-ego, Nagavalli. Nagavalli's voice is heard only in the minor part of the film compared to Ganga's. Durga was not credited in the film or its publicity material and until 2016, the popular belief was that Bhagyalakshmi solely dubbed both voices.

In January 2016, in an article ''Ormapookkal'' published by '' Manorama Weekly'', Fazil revealed that initially Bhagyalakshmi dubbed for both Ganga and Nagavalli, but during post-production, some of the crew, including editor Shekar, had a feeling that both voices sounded somewhat similar even though Bhagyalakshmi tried altering her voice for Nagavalli. Since Nagavalli's dialogue are in Tamil language, Fazil hired Tamil dubbing artist Durga for the part. But he forgot to inform it to Bhagyalakshmi, hence she was also unaware of it for a long time. Fazil did not credit Durga in the film; according to him, it was a difficult to make changes in the titles at that time, which was already prepared and her portion in the film was minor. The credits included only Bhagyalakshmi as the dubbing artiste for Shobana. Other dubbing artistes were Anandavally and Ambili, who dubbed for Vinaya Prasad and Rudra.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan which went on to become one of the most popular film albums in Malayalam. The album consists of nine tracks. The lyrics sung are in Malayalam and Tamil written by Bichu Thirumala and Madhu Muttam for Malayalam and Vaali for Tamil.

Release

''Manichitrathazhu'' was released on 25 December 1993, and performed well at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever, to that date. It ran for more than 365 days in some centres. The film had a collection of 7 crore.

Awards

Legacy

''Manichitrathazhu'' is considered as a classic and is hailed as one of the best films ever made in Malayalam cinema. The film has consistently fetched maximum ratings for its television screenings. Even twenty years after its release it has been screened more than 12 times a year on an average on Kerala's leading TV channel, Asianet. The film has received the maximum TRP rating on every screening; TRP ratings have increased every year, a rare record for a film produced in Kerala. For many Malayalis, Manichitrathazhu is a part of their cultural lives.

In a 2013 online poll in India by ''IBN Live'', ''Manichitrathazhu'' was voted second among India's Greatest Films, by audience. The poll was conducted as part of the celebration of Indian cinema completing 100 years. The poll constituted a list of 100 films from different Indian languages.

One of the most memorable or defining scenes of the movie where Nakulan provokes Ganga to transform into the Nagavalli persona was recreated in later Malayalam films like Om Shanti Oshana.

Remakes

''Manichithrathazhu'' was remade in many languages such as in Kannada as ''Apthamitra'' (2004), in Tamil & Telugu as ''Chandramukhi'' (2005), in Bengali as ''Rajmohol'' (2005) and in Hindi as ''Bhool Bhulaiyaa'' (2007).

Spin-off

A spin-off titled ''Geethaanjali'' was released on 14 November 2013, directed by Priyadarshan with Mohanlal reprising his role as Sunny in lead role and Suresh Gopi reprised his role as Nakulan but in a cameo appearance.

See also

* Dissociative identity disorder
* Identity formation
* List of Malayalam horror films
* Mental illness in film

References

External links

*

{{National Film Award Wholesome Entertainment

1990s Malayalam-language films
1993 films
Films scored by M. G. Radhakrishnan
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award winners
Films about exorcism
Films directed by Fazil
Films featuring a Best Actress National Award-winning performance
Indian films based on actual events
Indian ghost films
1990s psychological horror films
1990s ghost films
Indian psychological horror films
GNagavalli1
Malayalam films remade in other languages