PremiumNeelavelicham review: Tovino, Rima Kallingal-starrer is an immersive remake, despite being shackled by its script
Director Aashiq Abu’s Neelavelicham, starring Tovino Thomas and Rima Kallingal, keeps the audience engrossed for most parts, but becomes predictable when it refuses to stray from the original script
Last Updated: 02.48 PM, Apr 20, 2023
Story: A writer moves into a house, which is believed to be haunted by a woman named Bhargavi who had apparently committed suicide after her lover abandoned her. While the writer initially brushes off the stories about the house and the apparition, he soon begins to experience strange incidents. The writer then sets about learning what happened to Bhargavi.
Review: Remakes always carry the risk of comparisons, but remaking a movie, even a classic as Bhargavi Nilayam that released in 1964 and was scripted by Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, would offer immense possibilities – especially in terms of how it’s shot and presented to today’s audience. This is also what would have appealed to director Aashiq Abu when he set about to make his version of Bhargavi Nilayam with Neelavelicham. And for most parts, the filmmaker succeeds in reimagining the classic and presenting an immersive experience, best enjoyed in theatres.
The makers have been forthright from the start, saying that they haven’t strayed too much from Basheer’s script. So, the plot and the sequence of events remain the same. It’s only the characters and the world per se that get a reimagining, and this is evident right from the first scene, where you see a man try to enter the decrepit house – Bhargavi Nilayam – and is confronted by the woman, Bhargavi (Rima Kallingal), who haunts it.
While the use of colours to bring the story alive alone gives the story a different dimension, Aashiq and his team go several steps forward by ensuring that the world Basheer has created, reflects in its entirety to the audience. None more magnificent than the scene, where the entire house glows with the titular blue radiance. But that’s not all, the makers also take the audience through the thoughts of its characters, weaving its songs and sequences, while also keeping that experience of watching a theatrical film alive.
For instance, the use of Ekanthathayude Mahatheeram along with Pottithakarnna Kinavu encapsulates what the writer (Tovino Thomas), who is suffering from solitude and longs from company, and Bhargavi, heart-broken and in despair, go through. It explains without any conversations between the two, how the duo is bound by their loneliness. Aashiq, through the surreal frames of Girish Gangadharan and score of Bijibal and Rex Vijayan, transport the audience to this world so seamlessly and keep you engrossed for a considerable amount of time. This is probably where Aashiq leaves his indelible mark on the reimagining of this classic. He doesn't fill it with supernatural elements but let's the story progress naturally, leaving room and hints for a rationalist to decode the happenings too.
That said, the film is also shackled by the team’s intent of respecting and staying true to Basheer’s script. The backstory of Bhargavi, her lover Sasikumar (Roshan Mathew) and Nanukuttan (Shine Tom Chacko) remain the same and this dulls the proceedings. The ‘reimagining’ in these scenes ceases to surprise, except for a scene featuring a train bursting out of a house, and it mostly feels like going through the motions till the film once again cuts to the present. These are also portions where you would wish that Aashiq and team did come up with something more than what was present in a movie that had been released almost six decades ago.
It’s not just the technical departments that get to show their prowess in the remake, but also the actors – who put in layered performances to portray their characters. There’s restraint and maturity in Tovino’s portrayal of the writer, who is seemingly going through a crisis within but braves that when he talks to those around. And this also includes his monologues with Bhargavi. In the scenes where he witnesses strange phenomena – be it at a beach or his house, the actor is able to show a wonderful mix of shock, fear and wonder.
Rima looks graceful in Bhargavi’s flashback portions, emoting with her eyes the romance that she feels for her neighbour Sasikumar. But where she truly shines is how she expresses her longing and melancholy after his absence. The song sequence in Pottithakarnna Kinavu, again shows how she is able to pull off these emotions. There’s also rage in Bhargavi, and it’s not expressed through diabolical laughs like in the original, but with looks of emptiness to someone who has robbed her off her hope and life. The movie also benefits from the performances of talented actors such as Roshan and Shine Tom Chacko, who play Sasikumar and Nanukuttan, respectively, who aren’t too dramatic while portraying their deep emotions of love and jealousy.
Verdict: With Neelavelicham, director Aashiq Abu succeeds at an immersive reimaging of Bhargavi Nilayam. But you do wish that the filmmaker would keep the respect for the source material aside for a few scenes in the second half, especially when it had so much going for it.