KOCHI: Wrapped in blood-red attire that flickers like a flame, the figure looms with a jagged, towering headdress. The form casts shadows that creep along the ground. In each hand, burning torches illuminate a face painted in bursts of red, black, and white. The eyes, wide and intense, are filled with suppressed emotions.
The glow of the eyes spills out the horror. Metallic anklets clink with each step and tell the tales of the silenced as smoke swirls around, thickening the air with dread. The form pulses with raw energy and reveals the weight of all that has been repressed. Theyyam has always created such striking images.
One such image drew Sajeed A to create a supernatural thriller titled Vadakkan, which has been turning heads on festival circuits recently. For the first time in the history of Malayalam cinema, the film won Best Supernatural Feature at the Fright Night Film Festival in the US. It was also the official selection at the 40th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in the Work in Progress category in April 2024, while it was still in post-production.
Moreover, it had an exclusive industry screening at the Marché Du Film, Festival de Cannes, as one of the handpicked seven Gala screenings at the Fantastic Pavilion. And it is now a finalist at the Abruzzo Horror Film Festival in Italy, an event dedicated to fantasy and horror.
The story, which had been within Sajeed since 2010, waited patiently for the right moment to become the perfect film he envisioned. “In Mollywood, I feel that in terms of the horror genre of movies, we are not giving audiences what they want. There is a strong appetite for such films, but we lack quality production.
By quality, I mean that horror films need excellent VFX, sound design, and an engaging cinematic experience to attract viewers. Otherwise, audiences start to laugh and troll the ghosts in the theatre itself. The Malayali audience is known for that. With Vadakkan, we are trying to provide what the audience expects,” Sajeed says.
The story starts when a paranormal investigator based in Helsinki ventures to Kerala to probe a series of mysterious deaths during a reality TV show shoot and confronts an unspeakable Entity from a native cult practice, lurking on a mysterious island.
Kishore Kumar G and Shruthy Menon play the lead roles in the film, also features notable figures such as Resul Pookkutty, Unni R, and Bijibal. The director of photography is Japanese cinematographer Keiko Nakahara, known for her work on films like Mary Kom and Shakuntala Devi. The renowned Pakistani singer Zebunnisa Bangash and Bollywood lyricist Shellee have also contributed to the film.
“When we shared the story and the concept of the film, everyone immediately understood and jumped on board. This is not a star-vehicle film; there is no hero in the traditional sense but it’s filled with strong, well-defined characters. Music also plays an important role in the film,” Sajeed explains.
The musical score in the film draws inspiration from Asian classics like Ringu and Manichithrathazhu. It features a fusion of Indian Carnatic and Western music and incorporates influences from original Theyyam compositions such as thottams and chendamelam.
The team has taken many advanced technical experiments to make the film stand out, including the use of Infrared Lighting, a technique rarely seen in India. In this method, the camera and lights are completely hidden from the actors’ view and they have to perform in complete darkness. The crew said this required about 20 days of intensive preparation, with actors practising movements like mark-ins and mark-outs in the dark.
Additionally, another experiment was carried out by Resul Pookkutty. He used infrasound, a sound frequency that can’t be heard but creates a sense of unease, heightening the emotional experience. It is used in movies like Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. This technique can only be fully experienced in a 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound environment.
Jaideep Singh and Bhavya Nidhi Sharma are producing the film under the banner of Offbeet Studios. This is the group’s first foray into film production, after tasting success with the launch of the US Premier League Cricket and being the creative force behind 101India.com.
“Our studio’s vision is to share culturally rooted Indian stories with the world through exceptional cinematic experiences. We recognised that this narrative has the potential to travel globally — not every story can do that, but this one can. Instead of prioritising big-name actors, we focused on making the story the heart of our project,” Jaideep says.
“We chose Malayalam cinema for our first production because it has a unique appeal and over the last four or five years, we have seen some truly remarkable projects emerge from this market, showcasing both creativity and strong narratives,” he adds.
Vadakkan includes multiple timelines: a present, a recent past, and a distant past. The lead actor Kishore went through a grueling Theyyam workshop, preparing for multiple sequences set in different time periods to grasp the nuances of each era.
Also, the Entity manifests as a territorial spectre, embodying both male and female aspects in the film.
“Theyyam can exist in a dual-gender space, which is part of the beauty of this art form. For example, if we look at the character of Vishnumoorthy, we see elements like breast padding, where a man plays the role of Bhagavathy. This practice has been a part of our culture for a long time and is evident everywhere around us. I think this is one of the positive aspects of South India, particularly Kerala,” Sajeed says.
The sound design for the film was completed in Mumbai and the visual effects were produced partially in India and partially in Europe. Vadakkan will soon be hitting theatres in Kerala. It will be released in Malayalam and dubbed in Kannada as well.
