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Manichithrathazhu
–My 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 was the highest grossing film of
that year).Directed by Fazil who in turn was assisted by his protégés Siddique-Lal,
Priyadarshan, and Sibi Malayil, the film has since become as cult classic and
is without question Fazil’s best film .
Fazil himself 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 exploring the 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 :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manichitrathazhu
The
film 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 . I searched a lot on this topic to
find out what that tragedy was but could not get any definite data . Then I
came across this website 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 they were given the title of ‘channar’ for the ‘karanavar’(head of the
family). An incident mentioned in the website related to the last karanavar of
the family stuck a chord.
Here
is the excerpt from the website:
http://alummoottil.com/home.htm( website link)
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 of his 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 the king, 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 was the 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 his
own family
Alummoottil Meda
Alummoottil Meda
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 history of Alummoottil family.
Maybe Madhu Muttom who resided near this place had heard about this incident 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 as ‘Meda”.
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 Muttom should
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
produced any new interesting scripts till date.
There
are numerous reviews and analysis of the films plot available over the
internet. Some are really interesting and thought provoking. Some really
bizarre-like an analysis which concludes that Nakulan and Dr Sunny are Gay
Partners! Hence Nakulans avoidance of physical relation with his wife Ganga and
Dr.Sunny’s closeness with Chandu. Another states that Ganga’s infatuation with
Nagavalli is not just mental 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(https://rav1tranquilized.wordpress.com/tag/manichitrathazhu/).
I find these ideas absurd !. Still its fascinating to see the depth and mysteriousness of the film which permits such intricate analysis.
One
thing is pretty clear though. Nakulan is a workaholic. He is married to his
work more than his wife. It’s his over dedication to his profession which
causes him to ignore Ganga unknowingly. There are numerous scenes in the movie
which shows how self indulgent Nakulan becomes ignoring those around him 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 Ganga’s 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 her conversations. 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 huge ‘meda’. Avoided by her husband, her mind begins
to create a fantasy world to keep itself engaged and amused. He feeling of
sympathy and empathy with the character of Nagavalli finally leads her to
assume her personality and to accomplish what Nagavalli couldn’t; the death of
the autocratic Karanavar. The Karanavar symbolized control ,Ganga’s mind wanted
to overcome this control and be the controller of her destiny. She wanted to do
as she pleased. By being Nagavalli she
became larger than life, intilling fear in others. Her mind thoroughly enjoyed
this and gradually wanted to assume this personality after dissolving the meek
personality of Ganga.
(I have updated the part where I criticised the songs in the movie, as I later found out from much serious affcionados like Jijo Thankchan how the songs had immense significance in the movie )
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). I was highly critical of this sequence as I found the inclusion of a song at this sequence to be totally out of tune with the situation . It was only later that I came to know (thanks to Jijo Thankachan and his fb page on Manichithrathazhu) that this song is in Ahiri Raga which is a favourite of Nagavalli (demonstrated by the first dialogue of Nagavalli earlier in the movie- during the Pooja scene with Nedumudi Venu and Ganeshan). Its a lullaby and Sunny sang it deliberately to soothe the Nagavalli Persona in Ganga.
The
singing by ganga at midnight inside the Thekkini is heard only by Dr.Sunny and
no one else in the house. This is when the whole family had moved in to protect
Nakulan! Its hard to believe that everyone else had a sound sleep when most
would have remained sleepless due to the reputation of the house. (I kept this portion from my earlier edit as I still find it impossible that no one came up to enquire about the singing -not even Nakulan who was a rationalist like Sunny .)
The song bits like 'palavattom pookkaalam' etc were required to establish the Loneliness of Ganga and her longing for love and care from someone who could understand her emotions.
'Oru murai Vanthu parthaya' was essential of the climactic conclusion which brings forth the persona of Nagavalli in full bloom.
In
concluding one can safely say if you ignore some of these anomalies this movie
will rank among the best in the world.
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