Nizhalkkuthu

Nizhalkkuthu

🎞️ Movie 90 min IN
โ˜… 7.2 /10 2002

The title of the film Nizhalkuthu (Shadow Kill) refers to a popular play Nizhalkuthu Attakatha, adapted from the Mahabharata, about the inherent unjustness of certain punishments. In the play, the Kauravas force a witch hunter to kill the Pandavas by stabbing their shadows. However, the witch hunter's wife finds this out and is enraged. To punish her husband by making him feel what, Kunti, the mother of Pandavas must feel, she kills their child in the same way. The film reflects that death penalty is probably in the same vein. We may---like the witch hunter's wife---be handing out punishments that are equally ridiculous under the false perception that we are doing justice, if not being directly criminal like the witch hunter. Adoor's usual cinematographer Mankada Ravi Varma filmed half of the project. But he was later replaced by Sunny Joseph, since the former fell ill and was later found to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Cast

Oduvil Unnikrishnan
Oduvil Unnikrishnan
Kaliyappan the executioner
Sukumari
Sukumari
Marakatam, his wife
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Mallika
Mallika, the younger daughter
Thara Kalyan
Thara Kalyan
Madhavy, the older daughter
Murali
Murali
Vasu, Madhavy's Husband
Sivakumar
Sivakumar
Mallika's Lover
Narain
Narain
Muthu, Kaliyappan's son
Nedumudi Venu
Nedumudi Venu
Jailer
Vijayaraghavan
Vijayaraghavan
Jailer
Jagathy Sreekumar
Jagathy Sreekumar
Maharajah's Officer
Ilaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja
Composer
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Sunny Joseph
Cinematographer
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Mankada Ravi Varma
Cinematographer