Manichitrathazhu

The film stars Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Shobana in addition to Nedumudi Venu, Innocent, Vinaya Prasad, K.P.A.C.Lalitha, Sridhar, K.B. Ganesh Kumar, Sudheesh, Thilakan and others in supporting roles. The story is inspired by a tragedy that happened in an Ezhava tharavad, the Alummoottil meda (an old traditional mansion), located at Muttom (near Haripad), belonging to a central Travancore Channar family, in the 19th century. The writer of the film, Madhu K Panicker or Madhu Muttam, is a member of the Alummoottil Tharavad.

Directors Sibi Malayil, Priyadarshan and Siddique–Lal served as the second-unit directors. 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 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 (with some plot changes), 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. It is often regarded as the best psychological thriller ever made in India.

His maternal uncle Thambi learns that Nakulan is planning to stay at the Madampalli mansion, his ancestral house, despite attempts from the locals to dissuade them. The couple moves in, and later a worried Thambi warns Ganga to keep away from certain corners of the house. Bhasura , Nakulan’s maternal aunt and Thambi’s sister, reveals the reason why everyone fears the mansion. Around 150 years ago, the family’s patriarch, a “Karanavar” named Sankaran Thambi travelled to Tanjore in Tamil Nadu, where he met and lusted after a danseuse named Nagavalli. However, she did not reciprocate his feelings as she was already in love with fellow dancer Ramanathan. As a result, Karanavar took her back to his palace by force. Unbeknownst to him, Nagavalli made arrangements for Ramanathan to stay in a house just outside the mansion and met him secretly. When Karanavar discovered this, he slayed Nagavalli and as a result, her bloodthirsty spirit started wreaking havoc in the village. The anxious Karanavar, with the help of priests and sorcerers from all over the state, tamed the spirit by locking it in a room located in the palace’s south-west corner, which later came to be known as the Thekkini. The Karanavar too died by suicide in a few weeks’ time. Back to the present, Alli , Bhasura’s daughter and Nakulan’s cousin, is in love with Mahadevan , a college lecturer and poet and their marriage is fixed. Mahadevan stays at the same house which was once Ramanathan’s hideout.

After hearing Nagavalli’s story, Ganga, who believes that it is all fabricated to keep thieves from entering the plush mansion, wishes to check it out. Ganga with the help of Alli gets a duplicate key to the Thekkini and successfully opens the door. Subsequently, strange things begin to happen in the household, like an apparition frightening the inmates at night, things inexplicably breaking, and Ganga’s saree catching fire. Suspicion falls on Sridevi , also Nakulan’s cousin who is Thambi’s daughter, as she is known to have a troubled past featuring a broken marriage and also spends most of the time with Ganga. Nakulan immediately calls Dr. Sunny , his close friend and a renowned psychiatrist, to solve the case. As soon as Sunny comes, a mysterious being/person tries to kill Alli. Sunny also investigates other incidents such as attempts to harm Nakulan by poisoning his tea and a mysterious person singing and dancing almost every night inside Nagavalli’s locked room.

Ganga mysteriously disappears during a Kathakali dance which is attended by the entire family. Sunny notices her absence and searches for her, only to find Ganga, who is supposedly being harassed by Mahadevan. Nakulan enters too and beats Mahadevan unaware of the fact that the latter is in fact innocent. Confidentially, Sunny reveals to Nakulan and Mahadevan that Ganga suffers from split personality disorder following an abandoned childhood and has further faced trauma after her parents forcibly took her away from her village and grandmother to whom she was emotionally attached. Sunny also reveals that Ganga’s mind is attracted to folklore and fantasy, resulting in Ganga imagining herself in the brutally murdered Nagavalli’s shoes. To worsen the situation, her mind pictures Mahadevan as Nagavalli’s lover Ramanathan, as both men stay at the same house.

Sunny explains that the only way to cure Ganga is to make her believe that Nagavalli killed the evil Karanavar on Durgashtami, which is an impossible task as Ganga has started picturing her own husband Nakulan as the evil patriarch who severed Nagavalli. Sunny is in a dilemma as he is unable to save Ganga as well as Nakulan. Simultaneously, Thambi and family having lost faith in Sunny calls Pullattuparam Brahmadathan Namboodiri , a family friend and respected Tantric expert, to suggest a cure to the problems.

As fate has it, Namboodiri and Sunny are old friends with immense respect for each other’s professional excellence. Despite Namboodiri initially brushing off Sunny’s ideas to cure Ganga (while letting Nakulan stay intact) as impractical, he agrees to lend any help possible after realising Sunny’s determination.

On Durgashtami eve, before carrying out his plan, Sunny asks Nakulan to trigger Ganga and see for himself. When Nakulan does so, she display’s Nagavalli’s anger, which shocks him. A worried Nakulan shouts at Ganga, stunning her back to normal. She falls unconscious and Nakulan lets her rest. But later that night, Sunny, Nakulan and Mahadevan witness Ganga transforming into Nagavalli, wearing the long dead danseuse’s attire and dancing madly. Mahadevan, who is Ramanathan before Ganga’s eyes, leads her to the rituals performed by Brahmadathan Namboodiri. The Namboodiri converses with Nagavalli and assures that she’ll be able to behead the Karanavar and take her revenge. Nakulan is brought before “Nagavalli” and just before she attempts to slice him, Namboodiri sprays smoke before her and while she is distracted, Sunny turns the platform over, revealing a lifeless dummy in place of Nakulan. Nakulan gets out and escapes while Ganga slays the dummy, calming Nagavalli as she finally has her revenge. Ganga falls unconscious as Nagavalli leaves her and Sunny gently makes her aware that she is Ganga and just Ganga.

Nakulan and Ganga are all set to return to Kolkata while Sunny reveals to Sridevi that he likes her and wishes to marry her, and also asks Thambi for his blessing. He leaves along with the couple while Sridevi watches them through a window from upstairs.