#FilmyFriday: Manichitrathazhu: A classic psychological thriller, weaved with elements of horror

Friday nights resonate with fun. After a tiring week, it is finally time to stop worrying about everything else and live a little. A date night or a movie night is a must on Friday evenings and the coronavirus pandemic is no excuse to skip those self-indulgence moments and how would a Friday night be complete without watching a movie? The cinema halls are yet to open, but in this 21st century, there are other ways to watch a movie, right?
And we know, it would be a herculean task to pick a movie from the plethora of options.So once again, ETimes presents the weekly movie suggestion - with #FilmyFriday, wherein we recommend a must-watch Malayalam movie, every week.
And this week, we have picked ‘Manichitrathazhu’!
Director: Fazil
Cast: Shobana, Suresh Gopi, Mohanlal, Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Innocent, KPAC Lalitha, KB Ganesh Kumar, Sudeesh, Kuthiravattam Pappu, Vinaya Prasad, Rudra, Sridhar.
Release date: 25 December 1993
The film opens with Unnithan (Innocent), a relative of Nakulan (Suresh Gopi) entering the Madampalli Meda, an ancestral home, which is said to be haunted. No, Unnithan isn’t scared (at least initially!). He enters the bungalow in the daylight. Well, ghosts aren’t supposed to roam in daylight, so what’s there to worry about! Unnithan is at ease, he chants his favourite Slokam and steps foot in the bungalow and calls out the painter Raghavan, who was supposed to be finishing the work by then. The filmmaker gives a quick glance to the exquisite and spacious bungalow through Unnithan. Unnithan is yet to find Raghavan and is furious, even shouts that he won’t pay the service charges if Raghavan fails to finish the work by the end of the day (If you thought EOD’s are exclusive for WFH, sorry to break this to you!). Subhadra, who inherited the bungalow, will be arriving soon from Calcutta, and the bungalow is supposed to be accommodating them. Unnithan is at peace until he enters a long walkway and the long painting brush accidentally falls on the floor. The iconic music by MG Radhakrishnan plays in the background, intensifying the fear that Unnithan is confronting. Now we see the terrified Unnithan accelerating his pace, and adding fuel to the fire, he sees the chair rocking! Unnithan flees off from the bungalow and in the hurry forgets to take the keys.
In the next scene, we see a few elderly men sitting under a banyan tree, by the bank of a river and enthusiastically participating in Antakshari. Later the filmmaker introduces Alli (Rudra), Unnithan’s daughter, who is quizzing the Vaidhyar, if he has seen Dasappankutty (KB Ganesh Kumar), as they have to fetch the bucket, which accidentally fell into the well.
After Alli takes leave, Unnithan arrives at the Banyan tree. His love for slokams was already emphasized in the very first scene and Unnithan eagerly participates in the Antakshari, but soon he realizes that he left the keys of the bungalow dangling on the doors.
Unnithan rushes back to the bungalow and persuades Dasappankutty, whom he met midway to accompany him to the haunted house. The bungalow which was introduced earlier in the daylight now looks haunted for real and both of them get terrified by seeing a woman in a white saree walking in the distant woods!
The lead characters - Nakulan (Suresh Gopi) and Ganga (Shobana) later arrive at the bungalow. Nakulan’s mom Shubadra had inherited the bungalow. The movie picks its pace, once Nakulan and Ganga decide to stay at the bungalow, despite their relatives' warning. Ganga opens Nagavalli’s room and some unnatural (or rather natural) incidents follow, and everyone blames it on Sridevi (Vinaya Prasad), who is apparently possessed by Nagavalli’s ghost. And then Dr. Sunny (Mohanlal), a friend of Nakulan and also a world-renowned Psychiatrist comes to the family's rescue.
‘Manichitrathazhu’ is nothing short of a well-crafted psychological thriller, laced with horror elements. Fazil’s directorial is rich with solid characters, brilliantly crafted backstories, delicately weaved comic moments, exceptional performances and gives you an edge-of-the-seat thriller experience and most importantly timeless. The film guarantees endless entertainment and every time you revisit the classic, it will surprise you with a fresh perspective.

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