Generally, Tamil horror flicks have tended to gravitate towards cheap thrills and ridiculous premises. They have either focussed on populist ideas such as the battle between a holy presence and an malevolent entity. Also, because the saleability of this genre is usually limited to a first and only time viewing by the audience on account of the suspense factor, these movies have a lot of vulgarity in them - sometimes in the form of several steamy bedroom scenes that leave a bad taste in the mouth, or in the mould of the typical 70s and 80s mofussal crowd pullers - a needless record dance or cheap item number. Not so in the case of Madhavan's latest offering Yavarum nalam.
Yavarum Nalam has a tight story and excellent performances by all parties concerned. A young couple and its extended family moves into a new apartment complex and all is well for a time. Then, strange things begin to happen primarily to the protagonist and an eerie television mega-serial which is shockingly parallel to their life story begins almost directly they move in. What is the connections between these supernatural occurences, the TV serial and their lives? Why is apartment 13B the epicenter of these strange happenings? What is the final resolution? As an edge of your seat thriller and social commentary on the typical urban household in Tamil Nadu, Yavarum Nalam delivers more that what is expected.
To divulge the story would do a great disservice to those yet to enjoy the flick (although the rank of my fanbase is woefully close to null and I don't even want to think about what would happen to it in an upper row echelon format), so we'll look at some of the more interesting aspects of the movie - such as how it manages to do what it cliams and its place in the horror genre.
With my next to naught knowledge of Hindu spirituality, I know that the athma or soul of a human being, or any living being for that matter is constant. The vessel it is contained in may perish, but the soul continues to exist. One widely held tenet is that after its release from the human body, the soul is restless if there is something incomplete in its past existence and tries to achieve some sort of closure. And since it is formless it cannot achieve the goal on its own accord. Therefore, it needs a medium - an impressionable entity that can fecilitate its objective. However, such entities are rare and in reality, may not even exist. But for someone who buys into the principle wholeheartedly, things like possession (the control of a human being by a metaphysical force such as an aspect of god), shamanism (the ability to be in contact with the spirit world) and seance mediation (to be a middle man between the world of the living and the world of the dead) are possible and true. This is the centerpiece of the movie. Madhavan is one such person, who without his own will, is a medium for certain restless souls seeking vengeance.
Is it possible for such a person to lead a normal life? Can someone who is your next door neighbour and normalcy itself in all walks of life actually possess such an ability? Or in classic movie extravaganza, should such a person be shrouded in mystery and darkness? This is the first major score for Yavarum Nalam. By taking the concept of a medium and applying it to a normal person with a normal lifestyle, it diverges from a formulaic approach. Secondly, the movie is, contrary to popular opinion, not a typical haunting. One may argue that hauntings are not new. However, usually hauntings are portrayed are a group of people being scared stiff by abnormal events, or being rubbed off one by one. Its usually vegetates into either an excorcism or a last man standing kind of affair. Yavarum Nalam is about the plea for help by these restless souls, and the only way they can achieve this shout out is to do things that would pique the interest of an impressionable living medium. That is the intended objective of the haunting in Yavarum Nalam - and this fresh perspective is dealt with professionally here.
Thirdly, the idea of a television mega-serial with word for word similarity to the day to day lives of Madhavan's family is not only an excellent presentation of the plot, it is also an intentional or unintentional commentary on society. Many households are bogged down by these stereotypical mega-serials, even to the extent that normal healthy family life gets affected by the viewers being sucked into the action (or lack of it) on screen. People start associating themselves with the characters on screen and are glued to the idiot box for hours on end, five days a week. It is like a narcotic - and like every narcotic, it does not claim uniqueness, innovation or difference. Like crack, cocaine, marijuana, alcohol or tobacco, only the names such as Anandham, Vizhudhugal, Pidivaadham, Metti Oli etc. are different. Therefore ones these mega-serials get you hooked on, rehab seems to be the only way out. That the spirits in the movie cash in on this substance dependance to get their message across is a satirical take on the contemporary urban household. The sameness - oh! the sameness ...
And finally, the movie really does it for me because there are no cheap thrills. Since the story, the acting, the music and the editing are so crisp, there is no need for the sudden jarring noise, or the shadow round the corner, or the hand that slowly creeps up on you from behind. Gone also is the inexplicably stupidity of a character with a deathwish venturing alone into a dark room, or the insipid idea the haunted group gets to split up and go in search of what is most certainly their iminent doom. No, in Yavarum Nalam you get a proper mystery and the thrills are only in what direction the story will take in the next scene, and how things are going to pan out. This results in immense resale value for the movie - because you actually end up appreciating the effort that has gone into thinking this through, rahter than watching something that makes you jump everytime there a noise. The problem with the latter is, after the first time, you know exactly when the noise is coming. The difference is between reading an Agatha Christie novel and a Joseph Sheridan LeFanu type horror tale. Agatha Christie is so much more second-time-pick-upable.
So, please do Director Vikram Kumar and the entire cast and crew of Yavarum Nalam and go watch it. It is definitely a notch above the classics including Padhimoondram Number Veedu, Monalisa, Genmanatchathiram, Uruvam, Mayabazaar 1995 and so on. Since its not in theatres any more, you can get a DVD or CD (but an original one please). Piracy is a crime unless you are impecunious grad student living on the most expensive seaboard in the world!
