Ananthabhadram

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Ananthabhadram
Poster (with alternative spelling)
Directed by	Santhosh Sivan
Produced by	Manian Pillai Raju Ajaya Chandran Nair Reghu Chandran Nair (Sri Bhadra Pictures)
Written by	Sunil Parameswar
Starring	Kavya Madhavan Prithviraj Sukumaran Manoj K Jayan Riya Sen Kalabhavan Mani Biju Menon Revathi Cochin Haneefa
Music by	M. G. Radhakrishnan
Cinematography	Santhosh Sivan
Editing by	Sreekar Prasad
Distributed by	Vishaka Release
Release date(s)	4 November 2005
Running time	130 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Official website
IMDb profile

Ananthabhadram (also spelled Anandabhadram; in Malayalam: അനന്തഭദ്രം ) is a Malayalam film released in 2005 about ghosts, spirits, and black magic, based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Sunil Parameswaran.^[1] It is the first Malayalam venture of Indian director Santosh Sivan^[2] as well as of Bengali model/actress Riya Sen.^[3] Ananthabhadram was inspired by the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, Theyyam and Kathakali dance movements, and Kalaripayattu.

Ananthabhadram won five awards in the Kerala State Film Awards 2005, and was a commercial success as well. It is the first Malayalam feature screened using a satellite feed instead of conventional prints;^[4] aimed at an international market and released as a Ramadan special, it was also dubbed in Tamil, Telugu (as Sivapuram), and English.^[5][6]

[edit] Production

The release of Ananthabhadram in India followed that of horror movie Chandramukhi, starring Rajnikanth, which was a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu.^[7] Anathabhadram was originally to be directed by Sabu Cyril with actress Meera Jasmine in the lead,^[8][9] but Shivan stepped in to replace Cyril when production was delayed, first to a strike in the Malayalam film industry June 2004, and then because Cyril became busy with Shankar's film Anniyan.^[10][11][12] Cyril's assistant Sunil Babu art directed the film for Shivan.^[13]

Like his earlier directorial ventures Asoka and The Terrorist (a.k.a. Malli), Sivan was also the cinematographer for Anathabhadram. Kavya Madhavan replaced Meera as the female lead and gave a performance that established her as the top heroine of the Malayalam Film Industry that year, aided by both commercial success and critical acclaim.^[14] Prithviraj Sukumaran as the male lead also had his biggest success of 2005, out of the five films he did that year.^[14] Manoj K Jayan was to have a sannyasin look with long hair in the proposed Sabu Cyril version, but sported a more contemporary look in the version that was eventually shot, winning much critical accolades.^[15] To get the right score for the film Sivan rejected Vidyasagar's work and appointed M. G. Radhakrishnan, who went on to win awards for the film's tracks – including the celebrated number Pinakkamano^[16][17] – and do the score for Sivapuram, the Telegu version of the film.^[18]

[edit] Inspirations

Kathakali movements, magic spells, and special effects set the tone when Digambaran (Manoj K Jayan) abducts Bhama (Riya Sen).

When asked about his inspiration for the film, Sivan said he "derived a great deal of inspiration from our arts. We have a rich visual culture and even in Ananthabhadram, I have used certain aspects from Theyyam dancers and Kathakali to create the wizard Digambaran's image. The colour, long nails, kohl-lined eyes and so on were inspired from Theyyam and Kathakali."^[19] The sequence between Manoj K Jayan using Riya Sen as a channel for black magic, choreographed by Aparna Sindoor, the dance director of the film, uses Kathakali movements in particular,^[20][5] which has been an inspiration for major Indian films^[21] like director Shaji Karun's Vanaprastham (1999)^[22] and director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair (2005).^[23]

The film also uses Kalaripayattu, the traditional martial art of South India, for the fight sequences between Digambaran and Chemban choreographed by action director Arash,^[9][24] following the footsteps of Kalari-based movies like Palattu Koman (1962), Thacholi Othenan (1964), Kannappanunni (1977) and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989),^[25] as well as famous martial art film actor Jackie Chan's The Myth.^[26][27] It is the second time the director has used Kalari (as it is known in popular coinage) in his films, the first time being in Asoka.

Raja Ravi Varma's painting "Woman in thought"

Kavya Madhavan in the "Pinakkanamano" song sequence

The director used three paintings of Raja Ravi Varma – Damayanti and the swan, Lady in thought and Girl carrying milk tray – as inspiration to picturize the song Pinakkamano (acted by Prithviraj Sukumaran and Kavya Madhavan; sung by M. G. Sreekumar and Manjari).^[28][29][30] Sivan says, "Yes, it is a tribute to Raja Ravi Varma, who is so intrinsically etched in every Malayali's mind."^[31][32] This song came in the wake of a renewed interest in Varma's work in Indian showbiz, as evidenced in Indian pop star Phalguni Pathak's music video for the song Meri Chunar Ud Ud Jaaye (1998, acted by Trisha Krishnan) which emulated Varma's Shakuntala^[33] and Shaji Karun's declared film to be made on the artist's life which would feature Madhuri Dixit (actress of Gaja Gamini, a film by painter M.F. Hussain).^[34][35][36] since the auction of the 19the-century painters work was auctioned at Christie's and Sotheby's in late 1990s.^[37][38]

[edit] Plot

Soundtrack
Song titles (singer) Malamalalooya (Kalabhavan Mani) Thiranurayum (K. J. Yesudas) Shivamallikaavil (K. S. Chithra) Pinakkamaano (M. G. Sreekumar, Manjari Babu) Minnayam Minnum (K.S. Chithra) Vasanthamundo (M.G. Radhakrishnan) Creators Writer: Girish Puthencherry Composer: M.G. Radhakrishnan
Source Anandabhadram soundtrack at Internet Movie Database

The story of Ananthabhadram is a fairy tale. Set in rural Kerala, the tale is dominated by black magicians, martial arts experts, sorcerers and seductresses. Sivan said "it was the story of Ananthabhadram that captivated me. The stories my grandmother used to tell me used to take me to a world of mystery. It was the same feeling when I heard this story and I have tried to capture that in my film."^[19] Parameswaran says, "The fables that my grandmother narrated to me when I was a kid was there at the back of mind and that has been a source of my stories."^[1]

The movie opens with little Ananthan hearing a tale from his mother (Revathi). She tells him that his family in the ancient village of Shivapuram comes from a line of powerful magicians. The family is responsible for protecting nagamanikyam (a jewel on the serpent's head), which lies in a secret place in the house guarded by snakes, including a tiny snake called Kunjootan.

The real story begins when Ananthan (Prithviraj Sukumaran) returns to his ancestral village of Sivapuram from the US to light the lamps at Shivakavu, a dark and mysterious temple of Shiva, obeying the long-standing wish of his dead mother. On his way home he meets Maravi Mathai (Cochin Hanifa), the story's comic relief, on the train. The local black magician Digambaran (Manoj K Jayan) opposes the lighting on the grounds of local superstitions in order get his hands on the nagamanikyam, and disbeliever Ananthan meets the supernatural for the first time in his life.

Chemban (Kalabhavan Mani), the blind martial arts expert, stands in Digambaran's way; the evil black magician manages to remove Chemban from his way, and leaves a taril of blood in his wake. Digambaran lures Chemban's sister and his lover Bhama (Riya Sen) a series of sensuous and evil magical rites that feature a wide paraphernalia of the exotic, including Kathakali movements, traditional magic spells, special effects, and make-up artist Pattanam Rasheed's black-and-red face paints.

Meanwhile, Ananthan's cousin Bhadra (Kavya Madhavan) falls for him and his light-hearted flirting, eventually leading to a commitment of love between them. In his effort to fit into the local environment, Ananthan wins the villagers' hearts by his easy kind manners; breached only when the magician takes over his mind for a short while. Bhadra faces the dilemma of choosing between Ananthan's love and becoming a Devi (goddess) in a mystical ritual of self-offering.

In the end, Ananthan and Bhadra escape Digambaran's sinister tricks and unravel his conspiracy in front of the villagers, who always believed him to be a benevolent mystic. The fight to the end sees Digambaran destroyed and Ananthan restoring the nagamanikyam.

[edit] Reception

In a year when most Malayalam films failed to recover costs, Ananthabhadram was one of the few commercial successes, along with Rajamanickam, Chanthupottu, Naran, Thommanum Makkalum and Udayananu Tharam.^[39][40] Pinakkamano became the top hit among Malayalam film songs in 2005.^[41] It also inspired director KJ Bose's Tanthra (2006) featuring actors Siddique and Shweta Menon.

Ananthabhadram won five awards in the Kerala State Film Awards for 2005, including Best Cinematgraphy (Santosh Sivan), Best Music Direction (MG Radhakrishnan), Best Editing (Sreekar Prasad), Best Art Direction (Sunil Babu) and Best Makeup (Pattanam Rasheed).^[42] It won five awards in the Kerala Film Critics Association Awards 2005, including Best Film, Best Director (Santhosh Sivan), Best Actor (Manoj K Jayan), and Best Cinematography (Santhosh Sivan).^[43] Sunil Babu, the art director, was critically acclaimed for his work for the film.^[44]

[edit] References

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