Like ghosts, who remain bottled up and forgotten, in eternal wait for a kindred spirit to discover and converse with them, works of literature live on for years or even centuries, to be rediscovered by a new generation. But Vaikom Muhammad Basheer’s short story Neelavelicham, based on which he wrote the screenplay for Bhargavi Nilayam, is no forgotten work. The film, cinematographer A. Vincent’s debut directorial in 1964, was so popular that ‘Bhargavi Nilayam’ became a common usage for any abandoned house in Kerala.
Sixty years later, when filmmaker Aashiq Abu attempts to re-interpret the material, he almost sticks to Basheer’s original script, with hardly any deviations. A writer (Tovino Thomas) comes to live in a haunted mansion, where the ghost of the former resident Bhargavi (Rima Kallingal) is still rumoured to be present. Bhargavi, a college student, is believed to have committed suicide after her lover Sasikumar (Roshan Mathew) left her. The writer, who begins to pen her story, soon realises that there is more to her tragic tale.
Neelavelicham (Malayalam)
More than anything else, including the inevitable improvements in visuals and sounds, it is the power of the original script by Basheer that stands out in the remake too, although some of the dramatic dialogues from that era might sound dated at present. It is a mystery as to why Basheer — whose voice lends itself to cinema — did not write many screenplays.
Aashiq Abu’s attempt here seems to be to retain the soul of the original film, especially the unique relationship between the writer and Bhargavi, who is invisible, but whose presence can be felt in every corner of that mansion. The writer’s one-sided conversations with her are marked by warmth and curiosity, rather than fear. In a way, it could also be seen as symbolic of the writing process, with the writer having long conversations with his beloved characters, and the characters even intervening and correcting the story at times.
Other than a few jump-scare attempts, Neelavelicham is more concerned with immersing the audience in the melancholic mood that Bhargavi’s spirit is swimming in, which the carefully crafted sound design and visual effects succeed in. Yet, all through the film, one is gnawed by the feeling as to what would have made a filmmaker from the present generation remake such a wildly-popular film. For those who are familiar with Bhargavi Nilayam, there is hardly anything new on offer here in the content, not even an attempt to connect it somehow to the present day. Novelty becomes a casualty in Abu’s attempt to remain true to the original.
Among the portions removed from the original film, some have been done with an eye on evolving ideas of political correctness, especially the black-facing of the villain, Bhargavi’s hatred for black shirts and the fat-shaming of one of the characters. Three of the classic songs by the Baburaj-P. Bhaskaran team have been reworked, but one really wished for the originals. Tovino Thomas, Rima Kallingal and Roshan Mathew succeed to an extent in fitting into the big shoes they had to step into, but the same cannot be said of Shine Tom Chacko, whose interview persona keeps appearing too often on-screen these days.
Neelavelicham provides an absorbing sensory experience, but the question of the need for a remake remains. Its biggest contribution would be to make a whole generation watch the original landmark film. And, of course, we could finally watch the blue radiance in blue, as Basheer saw it, rather than in black-and-white.
Neelavelichamis currently playing in theatres
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