''Lisa'' is a 1978 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by

Baby In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to Juvenile (orga ...

(A. G. Baby) and produced by Dhanya Productions. Considered one of the best horror and musical flicks in Malayalam, with music by K. J. Joy. It was remade as '' Woh Phir Aayegi'' in Hindi in 1988. The film was a major commercial success running for 100-days in theatres.

Plot

Lakshmi is a young village girl who gets a job in a town. So she gets an accommodation at a working women's hostel. Here she befriends Kala who happens to be her roommate. Eventually she befriends other women in the hostel as well. It is then revealed that Lakshmi is a complete introvert who is shy and does not involve herself in any co-curricular activities such as dance, music, arts etc. Things go well until one night, Lakshmi experiences strange activities in her room. Eventually, she is attacked by an unknown force. Since that incident, there are drastic changes in Lakshmi's behaviour. She starts behaving like a modern girl, wearing modern clothes and also taking part in the hostel's functions such as dance etc. This worries Kala, because Lakshmi's present behaviour was very much similar to her friend, Elizabeth or better known as Lisa, who died in a freak accident. Lakshmi's fiancé, Murali, is also confused by her behaviour because she rarely talked to him as before and instead spent more time with a man named Johnny, who was a singer. Moreover, Johnny used to be Lisa's boyfriend. Devastated by his girlfriend's death, he never looked upon any other girl. Things take a toll when the hostel's former warden and Lakshmi's boss's colleague are murdered. Despite the absence of concrete evidences, Suresh, a police officer and Kala's fiancé, doubts that Lakshmi may have been involved in the murders. In the end, Lakshmi transforms into a demon like figure and supernatural events take place around her. Soon, an exorcist is called to perform an exorcism on Lakshmi. When the exorcist enquires about the spirit's identity, it is revealed that Lakshmi is possessed by the spirit of Lisa. She revealed that she was an orphan, who was raised in an orphanage. Eventually, she got a job. While she was working, she had fallen in love with Johnny, who was impressed about her dancing skills. Johnny also reciprocates her feelings and the two plan to get married. But her fate took a turn when the former hostel warden was bribed by Lisa's boss's colleague to call Lisa over his hotel room and engage in sex with her. Lisa is infuriated after knowing about the ploy. In response, the colleague tries to molest her, but Lisa manages to get away from his grip. To get away from his clutches again, Lisa jumps out of the hotel's high rise window and dies due to the fall. Since then she wanted to take revenge on those responsible for her death. The exorcist then firmly tells that since she had her fill, she was supposed to leave her host's body. She responds without any hesitation and finally leaves Lakshmi's body. Soon, Lakshmi is brought back to consciousness and reunites with Murali. Court frees Lakshmi from the murders, citing it to be a behaviour that science doesn't have an answer. In the meantime, Lisa causes Johnny an accident that cost his life. In this way, both Lisa and Johnny reunite and remain together forever in heaven.

Cast

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 6 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the hist ...

as Murali * Bhavani as P. Lakshmi * Seema as Lisa *

Jayan Krishnan Madhavan Nair (25 July 1939 – 16 November 1980), better known by his stage name Jayan, born as the son of Madhavan Pillai (Kerala title), Pillai and Bharathiyamma in Kollam district, Kollam, was an Indian actor, Officer (armed forc ...

as Suresh * Vanchiyoor Radha * Vidhubala as Kala * Jayabharathi as herself (cameo) *

Jose Prakash Kunnel Joseph Joseph, better known by his stage name, Jose Prakash (14 April 1925 – 24 March 2012) was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was a singer turned actor who had appeared in more than 300 films mostly in a ...

as Joseph Chacko, colleague *

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He is known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in over 300 mov ...

as Lakshmi's father * Philomina as Lakshmi's mother * Kanakadurga as former hostel warden * Kuthiravattam Pappu as Gopalan, hostel watchman * M. G. Soman as Lakshmi's boss * Nellikode Bhaskaran * Premji * Ravikumar as Johnny * Kothuku Nanappan as Sankunni

Soundtrack

The music was composed by K. J. Joy and the lyrics were written by Vijayan.

Sequel

The film was very popular resulting in another film ''

Veendum Lisa ''Veendum Lisa'' () is a 1987 Indian Malayalam-language horror film. It is a sequel to the 1978 film '' Lisa''. The film was dubbed in Tamil as ''My Dear Lisa'' with a few scenes reshot. Plot The story starts with Gomathi and her daughter vi ...

'' in 1987 also directed by

.IMDb page for follow-up film ''Veendum Lisa''
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References

External links