‘ATHIRAN’
Movie Review
“Athiran’ is a 2019 psychological thriller in Malayalam. Directed by Vivek, it is scripted by P. F. Mathews from a story by Vivek. The film stars Fahadh Faasil, Sai Pallavi, and Atul Agnihotri.
All stories set in mental asylums are necessarily dark and naturally spooky.
What makes this film darker and more spooky is that the viewer doesn’t realize, until almost the end, who is ‘normal’ and who isn’t. Shot extensively in Ooty, in a matter of 55 days, the film alternates between scenes of exquisite natural beauty with harrowing scenes of sheer terror.
Dr. Nair, a psychiatrist, visits a mental asylum in a remote location in Kerala. He meets the patients who are never kept under lock and key, and one patient kept completely hidden away from the public eye, which, Dr. Benjamin Diaz, the administrator and doctor-in-charge says, is his daughter.
How Dr. Nair, who has been sent to inspect and report on the mental facility, discovers, draws out, and integrates the isolated patient with the others, forms a major part of the story.
The intense Dr. Nair, the enigmatic Dr. Diaz, his protective secretary, and friend Renuka, and the autistic Nithya and their thoughts and actions keep you watching the film with bated breath, almost till the end.
…and then another Dr. Nair turns up: we have to go back and watch the whole film again.
Extraordinarily nuanced acting by Sai Pallavi is enhanced by her skill in Kalari Payattu, the ancient Kerala martial art form that women, as well as men, learn and are adepts in. Seeing Sai Pallavi, in her role as an autistic woman, doing the Kalari Payattu herself is a treat in itself.
I always flip over people’s eyes and the shape of their lips, and Fahad Faasil’s eyes tell a million tales. Atul Agnihotri, one of my favorite actors, who I have seen in many Malayalam movies recently, is at his classic best and suits the role to a T. He can do sinister with the hint of a lifted eyebrow…
The background score is neither intrusive nor jarring. The photography is surreal, and the locales make you want to catch the next flight and visit Ooty immediately.
Or take a train…the journey is as attractive as the destination.
There are a lot of comparisons that reviewers have made, to other movies, with similar themes and storylines. I leave you to decide the difference, or similarity between this movie, to those others.
I don’t know who is listening, but I would love to see a sequel to this movie.
Mr. Vivek?
ⓒ 2022 Suma Narayan. All Rights Reserved.
