Manichithrathazhu

Manichithrathazhu_360P

two men (Innocent & Suresh Gopi) and their wives move into an ancient house filled with mystery. one day, as Ganga (Shobana) explores the house, she discovers a room bolted and locked with a very heavy and complicated lock, the Manichitrathazhu. she manages to have a copy of the key made, and thus enters the room. what she finds amazes her. she sees paintings of the legendary dancer Nagavalli and her husband, and a lot of items belonging to them. after some inquiries, she hears the legend of Nagavalli, the great dancer who was murdered by her husband more than a century ago. her obsession with the legend grows to such an extent that she becomes possessed by the spirit of Nagavalli. as the spirit takes over her, turning her into Nagavalli herself, the aim of killing her husband and taking revenge is embedded in her mind. to cure her of this problem, Innocent hires the services of Dr. Sunny Joseph(Mohanlal), a reputed psychiatrist. Dr. Joseph uses a combination of Vedic exorcism and modern medicine/psychiatry to cure her. in the final scene, using a dummy, the doctor makes Nagavalli 'kill' her husband and she is thus cured, after a small session of hypnotherapy.

Dear Fazil, you did a reasonably good job directing Manichithrathazhu. I am not saying you are William Friedkin or Stanley Kubirck. But you knew your limitations. I guess you understood that Madhu Muttom's script was solid and that the cast you had at hand was stellar. You let them do their jobs. I read that Priyadarshan, Sibi Malayil and Siddique Lal helped you out. The film is a great mix of the comedy and horror genres. The star cast of Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Shobana was one of the best in the early 90s (second only to Dhruvam). Innocent, KPAC Lalita, Kuthiravattom Pappu, Nedumudi Venu, Thilakan, Ganesh Kumar, Sudheesh, Rudra and Vinaya Prasada are at the very peak of their powers. Innocent carried the first half on his shoulders with his comedic scenes which might have been improvised. Ganesh Kumar also had some really funny scenes. I liked the way you shot and edited Shobana's entry into Nagavalli's room. The camera is following behind her and there are hardly any shots of her face. Hence the audience is kept in the dark about her experience. There were so many interesting elements in the film. Like the clash between the modern couple (Suresh Gopi and Shobana) and their superstitious relatives. But when the going gets tough, the relatives gets right behind the couple to defeat the "evil spirit". Then there was the schism between religion and science and how the two can co-exist. I am surprised Madhu Muttam did not write more movies. Best Regards, Pimpin. (7/10)

This film created waves among India and won many awards.In this psychological thriller a couple comes to their ancestoral home which is bounded by a big family and surrounded by mysterious beliefs.But to the couples surprise they themselves experience strange things such as someone throwing plates and clocks etc from vaccum. This leads to Suresh Gopi's friend mohanlal who is a psychatrist forced t come to solve this issue and the most unbelievable secrets are found .He experiences some female's sound who was beleived to be dead .He follows these sounds to find the secrets.The climax is the most best part in the film and the most horrifying one.

Suresh Gopi returns to his native place along with his wife Shobana after a long time to meet his uncle Nedubudi Venu.They decide to stay in their family mansion which remains unoccupied owing to the fears of being haunted by an old dancer, Nagavalli.Nagavalli was murdered there by the king years ago for having an affair with another court singer.Shobana becomes fascinated on seeing the palace that she purposefully unlocks the room that had been once been the room of Nagavalli. Soon a series of ghostly events cut loose and fear begins to grip the family.Mohanlal acts the role of Dr.Sunny who comes to the aid of his buddy Suresh Gopi and solves the puzzle to discover there is more than what he had imagined to be solved.The movie offers an ideal comedy track from late Kuthiravattam Pappu, Innocent, Ganesh and Sudheesh. Mohanlal leaves a memorable mark. However the full credit goes to Shobana for her stupendous acting. This may be the best of Fazil movies and by far the best suspense thriller in history of malayalam cinema. For those thriller crazy maniacs, this is the ideal movie. Go grab ur copy of DVD for this evergreen classic.

One Excellent masterpiece. This is one of the rare movies where the story can be interpreted in two ways. One way is to believe that Ganga is possessed by Nagavalli the dancer's spirit. The other is to assume that she is suffering from multiple personality disorder. The movie has arguments for both. The psychiatrist's explanations and predictions and his ability to solve the problem leaves most of the audience believing in the MCD theory. But Nagavalli fans point to the famous dance scene where Ganga's eyes change colour, and the scenes where she breaks objects like the clock which seemed quiet impossible to most. This reinforces the possession theory. Probably this is the first Indian movie to feature MCD. Highlights of the movie are the scene where Ganga gradually evolves into Nagavalli and her Malayalam changing into chaste Tamil, and the bharatanatyam dance sequence. It also has an unique song sung in a sad tone: 'pazham thamizh pattu'. Urban legends say the song's vaadi raga is unlucky, almost like gloomy Sunday and macbeth. Although made more than 13 years ago, it still glues you to the seat. two remakes were done on the movie. the kannada version was good though it didn't match the original. A tamil version was poor and twisted.

I have seen over 400 Indian films and nothing beats Manichitrathazhu. One of the most remade films in Indian cinema, Manichitrathazhu is a perfect combination of horror, psychological thriller and classical dance. All of the performances are great. Each scene is perfect. You can watch this film over and over again and discover something new with each viewing. It has been analyzed and re-analyzed for years and we still can't get enough of it. Even if you have seen some of the remakes like the Tamil Chandramukhi or Hindi Bhool Bhulaiyaa, please see the original Manichitrathazhu. You will enjoy it much more and realize why the original will always be the best. There was also a few sequels made like Kannada Apthamitra and Telugu Nagavalli. And there is a spin-off in Malayalam called Geethanjali. But like I said, nothing beats Manichitrathazhu. Get ready to be a fan!

This was one movie which really impressed me in 1993. Writing a review after so many years is a proof of how much sense it makes to me even today. Malayalam movies are always ahead of the rest of the country in making meaningful and realistic stories. That too on quarter of the budget a Bollywood movie is made with. This movie was a masterpiece work from Fazil. This movie also had another 6 A list directors doing diff segment of this movie, like the comedy part was done by Priyadashan. This movie was later made into a Tamil, Kannada and Telungu all which turned out to be super duper hits. Plans are in the pipeline to remake it in Hindi. But the essence of the movie is being lost in the translation. The 1993 Malayalam version is the best yet. This movie was well made and well received my all the generations of Keralites. A must watch if u like horror, thriller or friction movies.

This was a recommendation. I haven't watched much Indian cinema so I had been meaning to check more out at some point anyway. I knew nothing about this going in, didn't check the genre, actors, ratings..nothing. About 35 minutes in I'm starting to think I've made a terrible mistake when I look at the remaining time left. Yeah, this is going to be a tough one to finish.. Needless to say I found the first half pretty damn gruelling. I didn't know what was going on, The "horror" parts were cheesy, and I didn't find the silly bits funny. Annoyingly after every gag or supposedly comical moment they kept playing stupid sound effects. Lots of "boings" and other cartoonish noises which I detested. The acting was often like it was straight out of a soap opera which I found regrettable but I found Mohanlal somewhat entertaining. I decided to stick with it and finish what I'd started and I hoped things got better, much better. After that slog of a first half I was pleasantly surprised to find the second half of this did get better. There were some genuinely suspenseful moments, the acting definitely improved and everything felt more engaging. Shobana shows some real talent here and is easily the standout performer. However, for me personally it was a case of too little too late and I was looking forward to the film ending. Also, I should've explained to the person that recommended this that I really dislike musicals. Safe to say those parts got skipped! This one was not for me.

I was in high school when i saw it first in theater and now after 13 years i still enjoy this movie. I was very much disappointed when i saw it's remake which was far from the original work. Its filled with rubbish comedy scenes and awful performance of characters. Shobhana who won the national award for the role did an excellent performance. I know those who loves the remake will disagree me but you know what is the truth, don't you? I am not going to criticize the remake cause it may hurt someone's mind and i am also not interested in controversies anyway. If anybody is still there who didn't watch this movie please do it. This movie is worth watching, don't miss it!!!