Iruttinte Athmavu (1967)
- Original title
- ഇരുട്ടിന്റെ ആത്മാവ്
- Directed by
- P. Bhaskaran
- Genre
- drama
- Country
- India
- Runtime
- 2h 11m
- Rated
- U
- Rating
- 5.7 of 10 from 3 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A mentally unstable young man in a traditional matriarchal family is treated harshly and kept chained up. Only his uncle's daughter shows him kindness.
melancholicsomberemotionally intenseslow-burnlonelyheartbreakingvisceralhumanistic
What happens
Iruttinte Athmavu (transl. The soul of Darkness) is a 1967 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by P. Bhaskaran and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair based on his own short story of the same name. It stars Prem Nazir and Sharada in lead roles with Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, P. J. Antony, Ushakumari, Kozhikode Shantha Devi and Baby Rajani in supporting roles. The film is about a mentally unstable youth born into a matriarchal family who is forced to live as a mad man in chains and who is misunderstood and ill-treated by everyone except his uncle's daughter. The film features music by M. S. Baburaj, cinematography by E. N. Balakrishnan and editing by G. Venkitaraman and Das. Prem Nazir played the mentally challenged Bhranthan Velayudhan, widely considered to be one of the finest performances of Prem Nazir's career. Nazir himself rated his role of Velayudhan in Iruttinte Athmavu and as the swashbuckling folk hero Thampan in Padayottam as his best. Also, its script is regarded as one of the finest by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. A landmark film in Malayalam cinema, the film provided Malayalam cinema with a new direction; that of the low-budget film. The film has earned a dedicated cult following. It won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. It missed the Best Film and Best Actor (Prem Nazir) award only narrowly. Despite all the acclaim, the film was a box office failure. The film was part of MT's trilogy of political melodramas – the other two being Murappennu (1965) and Asuravithu (1968), both directed by A. Vincent. Major indoor parts of the film were shot in Satya Studios in Madras and outdoor parts from the premises of Bharathapuzha at Shoranur. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Hathat Dekha (1967)
Muhurtha Naal (1967)
Mehrbaan (1967)
Taqdeer (1967)
Nenjirukkum Varai (1967)
Chhoti Si Mulaqat (1967)
Nagareme Nandi (1967)
Belli Moda (1967)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.