5 MOST DISTURBING MALAYALAM MOVIES that will mess with your head

Be it the spurting jet of blood in a cock fighting pit or the spinning head of a decapitated gladiator, man has discovered scope of sport and entertainment in the misery and pain of others from the beginning of mankind. It must be from these basic reflexes that unsavory graphics of blood as well as traumatic subjects causing mental agony gradually infiltrated the thematic range and sensibilities of world cinema. Malayalam films have however refrained more-or-less from graphical representation of gore and violence as much as possible, but in turn focused more on the psychologically unsettling aspects of sadistic relish when urged by the same instinct, but always staying within artistic confines. There are quite a lot of upsetting films made in Malayalam cinema based on disturbing themes, be it the prolonged claustrophobia in Bharathan’s Malootty or spiraling hopelessness in Blessy’s Thanmatra, but none matches up to the haunting aftertaste that the following five leaves in any sane man’s psyche for days on end.  And none of it has the buffer of any form of stylistic flourishes to ease out the pain.

5. MOONNAM-PAKKAM 1988

writer/ director Padmarajan

This tragic tale makes a dark, sinister and extreme exploration of the idea of death, and the living world that has to deal with the resulting loss in its wake. Here death is also as omnipresent and formidable a character as the threatening and powerful sea that spews all its grief landward. Thilakan in the performance of a lifetime plays the central character that loses his grandson at sea, and is grappling with its tragic aftermath as the tension surrounding the search steeply builds up, depressing the hell out of us. Moonnam-pakkam is an emotional giant, and at the same time as being bold, virile and operatic, it is one of the most heartbreaking films in the history of Malayalam cinema that will forever keep you off balance.

4. KIREEDAM 1989

director Sibi Malayil writer Lohithadas

Kireedam’s protagonist Sethumadhavan is an innocent victim of circumstances. As this young man, tempted by provocative evils surrounding him, kicks his way down a self-destructive curve, his helpless family laments over its failed dreams and the certainty of his doom, with threats of change knocking on their doors every night. Kireedam, one of the best films from the 80s, makes you sad beyond the permissible limit, and the empathy you feels for the sorrow of somebody who has thrown the future to the dogs, makes you gasp in disbelief. The strained father-son bond also adds to the trauma of the gradual vilification of the inoffensive target played by Mohanlal with such heartrending conviction that by the end of it all you would want to go hug and console him. Kireedam is sure to leave a bulky lump in your throat for a very long time.

3. SADAYAM 1992

director Sibi Malayil writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair

Sadayam examines the seemingly absurdist crime committed by a convict on death row, and the unpleasant chain of events leading up to its frightening perpetration. It is perhaps one of M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s most uncomfortable scripts to watch, and one of the most ominous Malayalam films ever made. The crime in question is a quadruple homicide, and the young age of two of the four victims makes discomfort unavoidable for the film. In the head-spinningly unnerving murder scene shot mostly in terrifying close ups, Mohanlal, playing the said offender, gives a frighteningly forsaken performance that is both sad and cringe-worthy at the same time. A grueling yet compelling watch, Sadayam is not for the faint hearted, and it can leave you agitated and confused with more questions than answers about the depravity of the world we live in.

2. AAKASHADOOTHU 1993

director Sibi Malayil writer Dennis Joseph

Having made the entire Malayalam-land wail to bits, this weirdly moving film inspired by the biographical Who Will Love My Children? is a dizzying melodrama and an all time tearjerker that nobody risk to watch more than once in fear of exhaustion. It basically deals with a mother’s grief when diagnosed with blood cancer, and her subsequent struggle to find suitable homes for her four children. Its grim atmosphere, hopeless circumstance and ever-present melancholy made it one of the most moving films of all time in Malayalam cinema. Although one might occasionally criticize Aakashadoothu for being a manipulative weepie, the brilliant performances by Madhavi as the dying mother and the young actors who played her children was so poignant that one could easily forget its true purpose and genuinely feel the hurting grief fizzing up from the guts.

1. THANIYAVARTHANAM 1987

director Sibi Malayil writer Lohithadas

An innocent man’s slow descent into madness is the premise of this film with Mammootty, in one of his most riveting performances, playing the victimized protagonist. Thaniyavarthanam is the singular most unsettling Malayalam film ever made, and it shows how the menacing reach of superstition, and a tradition of insanity turn a perfectly normal person to a crazy wreck in a matter of days. The feral nature of lunacy that is foreshadowed throughout the film manifests with unsettling consequences as every stage of this manic trip uncoils right in front of our very eyes as we helplessly watch a man persecuted for no fault of his own, and by the end of it all, we are terribly guilty for not having done anything to stop the atrocity. This film will surely haunt you for days.