People have always been intrigued by stories that show the dark side of human nature. And when these stories come alive on screen with a dash of suspense, drama, mystery, and action, they applaud it and throng the theatres to see it again and again, with the expectation of coming up with a different deduction each time. This is the pull that good psychological thrillers have, and the reason why some recent examples clicked with the audience. Though a significant number of psychological thrillers were made in the past, Malayalam cinema has seen an increase in their numbers lately.
Perhaps, the first Malayalam film to successfully experiment with the genre was P Bhaskaran’s Iruttinte Athmavu (1967), in which the late Prem Nazir portrayed ‘Bhranthan Velayudhan’, the protagonist. In the golden ’80s, K G George’s Irakal and Sreenivasan’s Vadakkunokkiyantram belonged to the same genre. However, it was Fazil’s instant classic Manichitrathazhu, which perfectly blended a psychological theme with popular cinematic elements.
While the Tamil film industry has always released psychological thrillers on a regular basis, it is only now that we have seen a considerable increase in Malayalam psychological thrillers. The latest addition is debutant Vivek’s Athiran. “There is a clear shift in trend. Over the years, people demand changes in what they want to see. Currently, people are more accepting of the new changes in cinema,” says veteran director Fazil.
Malayalam psychological thrillers often depict the antagonist as a character with a heavy psychological background. When asked if this is done to make it easier for the audience to understand the cause of the villain’s actions, Athiran scriptwriter PF Mathews disagrees. “A background is not needed to justify the actions as the audience is mature enough to understand the character. Hollywood films of this genre don’t usually make use of a background,” he says.
On the other hand, psychiatrist Dr. CJ John believes that any character has to be psychologically scripted. “Every character — be it the hero or villain — has to have psychological elements to support their actions,” he says.
Malayalam psychological thrillers also play a role in influencing the social stigma surrounding those with psychological disorders. “Psychologically affected characters are usually portrayed as villains who commit heinous crimes or as comical and irrational individuals. This leads to false stereotypes that may pose as obstacles for those who want to seek help and will only increase the stigma,” says Dr. John. Mathews believes that the increase in psychological thrillers helps in breaking the stigma. “People’s narrow-minded views are publicly acknowledged through these films,” he says.
So what is so appealing about these thrillers? Dr. John believes that the human mind is always a fascinating subject as everybody is curious about others’ minds. “Intellectual people will always look at how well a story has been psychologically scripted,” he says. Fazil emphasizes that the story of a film is equivalent to the grammar of a sentence. “A psychological thriller should be made in such a way that it is convincing and connects with the audience,” he says.