1 year of ‘Bramayugam’: How Mammootty’s dark tale revived experimental cinema | Malayalam Movie News
Superstars from all the film industries are concerned about box office collections and majority of them are taking up big budget projects that cater to the tastes of their fans and here’s Mammootty who has done an experimental project even at a time when he is at the peak of his stardom. Last year, this month Mammootty and the ‘Bhoothakaalam’ director delivered a black and white experimental horror film that literally placed a new idea among the audiences that not only template-type stories will work in this new era.
The first hook – Mammootty the ‘Chathan’
The fact that Mammootty will be stepping into the role of a villain in the movie soared the interests of movie buffs and fans alike. Mammootty’s performance was surely the main highlight in the film. Reminiscing his villain character in the classic ‘Vidheyan’, ‘Bramayugam’ was surely a Mammootty show and the legendary actor even sets an example for the other superstars that not only big budget action films can entertain their fans.
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“What made the film different is Mammootty’s performance” – Amalda Liz
The actress Amalda Liz who played the character Yakshi in this black and white horror film, earlier revealed to us in an exclusive interview that it was Mammootty’s performance that elevated the film to another level.
She said, “What made ‘Bramayugam’ different from other horror movies is surely Mammootty’s magnificent performance. We will be glued to the seat just because of his magnificent performance. Also, the technical side of the movie is strong,” Amalda further said, “Even though there were not many scenes for me with Mammootty, my first scene in ‘Bramayugam’ was with Mammootty. My shot in the movie started with him and obviously I was tensed but Mammukka calms everyone down. Also, we are performing in front of a ‘Master’, so naturally there will be tension.”
‘Vidheyan’ in another universe
If you closely look at the theme of ‘Vidheyan’ and ‘Bramayugam’, we can see that both the films convey the same theme of slavery or casteism. We can even say that ‘Bramayugam’ is an alternate horror universe of Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s directorial. ‘Bramayugam’ exemplifies the importance of paying attention to the content of a movie and delivering it through the right sources aka the right actors.
Every scene matters
No one would feel bad on seeing Mammootty performing an intimate scene in the movie, and that’s how much the audiences are convinced with the fact it’s not their superstar on-screen, and it’s the character ‘Chathan’ (devil). Regarding the intimate scene in the film, Amalda Liz shares, “It’s even fortunate to act with such a legend. Even having such an intimate sequence in the film, I knew the importance of it for the narrative. Even while performing such a scene I never had any second thoughts, because I knew how important such a scene was in the film.”
“Filming a black-and-white movie is no cakewalk” – Rahul Sadasivan
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It’s indeed a bold move from the director Rahul Sadasivan to deliver a complete black and white movie for the audiences in this digital era. The director completely achieves the horror feel with the use of black and white style in the movie. In the same way, with the use of this style, the director perfectly places the audiences in a world which is not ordinary and also conveys the time period where the story is happening.
In an exclusive interview Rahul Sadasivan says, “The biggest USPs of ‘Bramayugam’ are that the film is entirely shot in black-and-white, and Mammootty headlines it. “It’s a period setting, and black and white was the best setting to tell this story,” the director asserts. Filming a black-and-white movie is no cakewalk. Starting from the lighting (in cinematography) to the production design and costumes, one should be meticulous about each department, and Rahul Sadasivan agrees, “Yes, it was challenging. But there was never a thought of telling this story in a colour format. I felt the decision to shoot in black-and-white itself was an enlightenment because everyone seems to be excited about it now! I pitched this film with the cast and crew to shoot it in black-and-white. This is a black-and-white film, and I can’t see it in colour.”
Raising the confidence of an experimental filmmaker
There’s surely a fear in every experimental filmmaker on whether their movie will work well in theatres and ‘Bramayugam’ surely soars their confidence levels. The movie grossed over Rs 85 crores, turning out to be a blockbuster. ‘Bramayugam’ also increases the confidence of the superstars to perform in an experimental project which is different from the mass-masala movies which are said to be something that caters to their fans.
In short, ‘Bramayugam’ is surely a path-breaker in Malayalam cinema and it further elevates the fact that Mollywood always puts good content first.
