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. It also features Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Innocent, Vinaya Prasad, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Sridhar, K.B. Ganesh Kumar, Sudheesh.It was Mohanlal's 200th film.
Sibi Malayil, Priyadarshan and Siddique–Lal served as the second-unit directors, who worked separately but simultaneously with Fazil to speed up the filming process. The cinematography was handled by Venu, while Anandakuttan and Sunny Joseph served as the second-unit cinematographers, and the film was edited by T. R. Shekar. The original songs were composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan, while the original score was composed by Johnson. Although Mohanlal is credited as a lead actor, the main role belongs to Shobhana, who won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Ganga / Nagavalli. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film also won three Kerala state awards -- Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value (1994), Best Actress and Best Make-up Artist (PN Mani).
The film thematically followed Swapnadanam's theme which was unusual and 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 (2004) (with some plot changes) which in turn was remade in Tamil as Chandramukhi (2005), in Bengali as Rajmohol (2005) and in Hindi as Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007)– all being commercially successful. Madhu has been credited as the sole writer for the remakes after he filed a copyright suit against Fazil when the latter started being listed as the writer of the original script in the remakes.. Geethaanjali, a spin-off directed by Priyadarshan with Mohanlal reprising the role of Dr. Sunny Joseph was made in 2013.
Manichitrathazhu received widespread critical acclaim upon release and is considered by many critics as one of the best films in Malayalam cinema, and developed a cult following, years after its release. It has also been regarded as one of the best psychological thrillers in Indian cinema. It was listed among the "70 Iconic Films of Indian Cinema" by Mint in 2017. A digitally remastered 4K Dolby Atmos version of Manichitrathazhu was released in theatres on 17 August 2024.
Plot Nakulan and his wife, Ganga, decide to take a vacation to Nakulan's ancestral village in Kerala. Despite strict warnings from elder family members, Nakulan insists on residing at their sprawling ancestral mansion, the Madampalli Tharavad, which is widely rumored to be haunted. Unwilling to leave the couple unescorted, the extended family joins them at the estate. Upon arrival, they are explicitly cautioned to avoid the "Thekkini", a heavily secured and locked southern wing of the house. Local lore dictates that 150 years prior, the family's powerful patriarch, Karanavar Sankaran Thambi, became infatuated with a court dancer named Nagavalli during a trip to Thanjavur and brought her back to the mansion. However, Nagavalli was secretly in love with another dancer, Ramanathan, who moved into an adjacent cottage to continue their clandestine affair. Upon discovering the betrayal, the enraged Karanavar brutally murdered them both. Legend holds that Nagavalli's vengeful spirit has remained trapped within the locked room ever since.
Ganga, a deeply curious skeptic, views the supernatural warnings as mere superstition. She persuades Nakulan's cousin, Alli, to help her illicitly acquire the keys and unlock the forbidden wing. Shortly after the room is opened, a series of disturbing and seemingly paranormal occurrences plague the household: apparitions are sighted, domestic objects shatter inexplicably, and Ganga's saree mysteriously catches fire. Traditional purification rituals and pujas fail to quell the disturbances. Given her history of melancholy caused due to her spinsterhood and a string of coincidences, the terrified family begins to suspect that another cousin, Sridevi, has been possessed by Nagavalli’s malignant spirit.
Deeply concerned, Nakulan summons his close friend, Dr. Sunny Joseph, a brilliant and eccentric United States-based Malayali psychiatrist, to evaluate the situation. Sunny immediately encounters erratic phenomena, including a near-fatal assault on Alli and the haunting sound of a woman singing and dancing in Tamil coming from the re-locked Thekkini at midnight. Adopting the vocal persona of the historical Karanavar, Sunny engages in a dialogue with the unseen entity, who identifies herself as Nagavalli and vows to decapitate the Karanavar on the impending night of Durgashtami. To piece together the puzzle, Sunny conducts field research in the nearby village of Evoor. Later, when an unknown individual attempts to poison Nakulan's tea, Sunny publicly blames the incident on Sridevi and locks her in her quarters, seemingly validating the family's supernatural suspicions.
The night before Durgashtami, Sunny intervenes in a chaotic scene where Ganga appears to be aggressively harassed by Alli's fiancé, Mahadevan, who vehemently protests his innocence. Armed with clinical evidence, Sunny diagnoses the true root of the haunting: Ganga is suffering from severe Dissociative Identity Disorder. He deduces that her childhood fixation on folklore, combined with the stress of the haunted mansion, caused her to internalize the persona of Nagavalli. In her altered state, Ganga perceives Mahadevan as her lost lover Ramanathan, and her husband Nakulan as the hated Karanavar whom she must execute on Durgashtami. Sunny confides the clinical reality to Sridevi, who agrees to assist him. Meanwhile, the skeptical elders summon a renowned tantric expert, Pullattuparam Brahmadathan Namboodiri, to perform an exorcism. Fortunately, the Namboodiri turns out to be an old associate of Sunny and agrees to seamlessly integrate the psychological therapy into his traditional rituals.
On Durgashtami night, Ganga fully submerges into her homicidal Nagavalli alter-ego. Believing Mahadevan to be Ramanathan, she follows him into the elaborate ritual courtyard prepared by the Namboodiri. The tantric master converses with the persona, promising to facilitate her revenge by allowing her to behead the Karanavar, but in turn, she has to leave Ganga's body. Nakulan is brought forward as the target. Just as Ganga raises the sword to strike, the Namboodiri dispenses dense smoke and sacred ash directly into her face, momentarily blinding her. Capitalizing on the distraction, Sunny rapidly twists a lever and replaces Nakulan with a lifelike straw dummy. The blind fury of the Nagavalli persona drives her to hack the dummy to pieces. Fully convinced that she has finally avenged her murder, the vengeful alter-ego permanently leaves her body.
With the underlying trauma resolved, Sunny utilizes targeted psychiatric therapy to rehabilitate Ganga. The narrative concludes as the unified family bids a warm farewell to the couple. Before departing for the United States, Sunny proposes in a unique way to Sridevi, who happily accepts.
Cast
Mohanlal as Dr. Sunny Joseph Suresh Gopi in dual role as Nakulan and Shankaran Thambi Shobhana in a dual role as: Ganga (voiceover by Bhagyalakshmi) Nagavalli (voiceover by Durga) Vinaya Prasad as Sridevi (voiceover by Anandavally) Nedumudi Venu as Thampi Kuttyedathi Vilasini as Thampi's wife Sudheesh as Chanthu K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Bhasura Innocent as Unnithan Sridhar in dual role as: P. Mahadevan Ramanathan Rudra as Alli (voiceover by Ambily) Thilakan as Pullattuparam Brahmadathan Namboothiripaddu (extended cameo appearance) Kuthiravattam Pappu as Kattuparamban K. B. Ganesh Kumar as Dasappan Kutty Vaijayanthi as Jayasree Kottayam Santha as School Head mistress
Production
Development Then young directors Sibi Malayil, Priyadarshan and Siddique–Lal served as the second-unit directors, who worked separately but simultaneously with veteran director Fazil to significantly speed up the filming process. The cinematography was by Venu, Anandakuttan and Sunny Joseph served as the second-unit cinematographers, the film was edited by T. R. Shekar. The original songs were composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan, while the original score was composed by Johnson. Mohanlal, though credited as a lead actor, has been noted to have only an extended cameo, the main role being that of Shobhana. The role of Dr. Sunny potrayed by Mohanlal was initially planned to be a more serious character and Director Fazil had decided to cast Mammooty. Later on, they decided to add a comical aspect to the character and roped in Mohanlal.
Filming
The haunted Thekkini room 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, Tripunithura. The major parts of the film were filmed at Hill Palace, Tripunithura and the climax was filmed at Padmanabhapuram Palace. The painting of Nagavalli was made by artist R. Madhavan, drawn without a live model. Most of the important sequences are shot at Hill Palace, Kochi but the most integral song of the movie, "Oru Murai Vanthu" was completely shot at the Padmanabhapuram Palace, Tamil Nadu.
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 a 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 dialogues are in the Tamil language, Fazil hired Tamil dubbing artist Durga for the part. But he forgot to inform 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 soundtrack in Malayalam. The album consists of nine tracks. The lyrics in Malayalam is written by Bichu Thirumala and Madhu Muttam and lyrics in Tamil are written by Vaali.
Release Manichitrathazhu was released on 25 December 1993, and performed well at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film at the time. It ran for more than 365 days in few theatres. The psychological thriller received widespread praise for blending horror, culture, and science.
Awards
Award Ceremony Category Nominee(s) Result National Film Awards41st National Film Awards Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Swargachitra Appachan, Fazil Best Actress Shobana Kerala State Film Awards34th Kerala State Film Awards Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value Swargachitra Appachan, Fazil Best Actress Shobana Best Makeup Artist P. N. Mani Kerala Film Critics Association Awards17th Kerala Film Critics Association Awards Best Actor Suresh Gopi Best Actress Shobana Best Music Director M. G. Radhakrishnan Special Jury Award Fazil
Themes