Anandabhadram (2005)

Original title

അനന്തഭദ്രം

Directed by

Santosh Sivan

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, romance film

Country

India

Runtime

2h 10m

Rated

U

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 27 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A village is haunted by ghosts and black magic tied to an ancient curse. A man becomes the central figure in a conflict between supernatural forces and those seeking to break the spell.

darkmysteriousmythologicalatmosphericsupernaturalbroodingvisually stylizedfolkloric

What happens

Anandabhadram (transl.”eternally safe”) is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language dark fantasy horror film based on the novel of the same name by Sunil Parameshwaran, and directed by Santosh Sivan. The story concerns ghosts, spirits, and black magic. The film stars Manoj K. Jayan as the central character, with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Kavya Madhavan in the titular roles. While an ensemble cast including Kalabhavan Mani, Biju Menon, Riya Sen, Revathy, Kalasala Babu, Cochin Haneefa and Nedumudi Venu plays other pivotal roles. The film was inspired by the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, Theyyam, Kathakali dance movements, and Kalaripayattu martial art form. It rode on a renewed interest in both Ravi Varma and Kalaripayattu in and outside of India. During production, Santosh replaced Sabu Cyril with Sunil Babu as the art director, M. G. Radhakrishnan replaced Vidyasagar as the music director, Gireesh Puthenchery replaced Sreekumaran Thampy as the lyricist and Kavya Madhavan replaced Meera Jasmine as the actress. The audiography of the film was done by M. R. Rajakrishnan . Anandabhadram was released on November 4 coinciding with Diwali and received critical acclaim for its screenplay, story, music, cinematography, cast performances and horror elements. Most of the critics praised Manoj K. Jayan's performance as Digambaran and the dark atmosphere of the movie. The film was a massive commercial success. The film won five awards in the 2005 Kerala State Film Awards and two in the 2005 Asianet Film Awards. It was also dubbed in Tamil, Telugu (as Sivapuram), Hindi (as Phir Wohi Darr) and English, and was an inspiration for Tanthra (2006), another Malayalam film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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