Unforgettable Malayalam movies on memory and identity that precede Amal Neerad’s ‘Bougainvillea’

With ‘Bougainvillea’ doing well in theatres, we dive into some gripping psychological thrillers that explore memory, intrigue and identity

Updated - October 29, 2024 02:30 pm IST

(L-R) Poster of ‘Bougainvillea’; Mammooty and Jagathy Sreekumar in a still from ‘Adikkurippu’; and Jayasurya, Prithviraj and Rahman in ‘Mumbai Police’

(L-R) Poster of ‘Bougainvillea’; Mammooty and Jagathy Sreekumar in a still from ‘Adikkurippu’; and Jayasurya, Prithviraj and Rahman in ‘Mumbai Police’

Amal Neerad’s superbly crafted Bougainvillea, a neo-noir psychological thriller, is a play on the mind and its vagaries as much as it is a story about a police investigation and a look at gendered relationships. Jyothirmayi as Rithu and Kunchacko Boban as Roy ace their roles with ease while Fahadh Faasil, always in form, plays second fiddle to their superb portrayals.

Kunchacko Boban and Jyothimayi in Bougainvillea.

Kunchacko Boban and Jyothimayi in Bougainvillea. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Sushin Shyam’s subtle but chilling soundscape and cinematographer Anend C Chandran’s frames unveil a nail-biting story of mind games that keeps viewers guessing as Rithu struggles to differentiate reality from hallucinations.

Meanwhile, there have been Malayalam films in the past that have skilfully woven amnesia and investigative storylines to unfold gripping narratives. Here are four such movies that have remained evergreen in popular memory:

Mumbai Police (2013)

Prithviraj as Anthony Moses in Mumbai Police.

Prithviraj as Anthony Moses in Mumbai Police. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Rosshan Andrrews’ fast-paced thriller, about a police investigation into the death of a police officer, takes viewers into the crannies and nooks of the mindscape of its lead character – Antony Moses, portrayed by Prithviraj Sukumaran. Anthony suffers from partial memory loss from an accident that occurred when he was on his way to meet his brother-in-law Farhan Aman (Rahman). How Rahman hunts down the sniper who shot Aaryan (Jayasoorya) by putting Antony in charge of the investigation leads to a captivating chase that keeps the audience guessing till the end.

Antony proves himself as an investigative officer even while battling the demons of his complicated past. Criticism about the way homosexuality was handled in the film did surface. However, on the whole, the movie was a well-scripted thriller.

Innale (1990)

Jayaram, Sreevidya and Shobhana in a still from P Padmarajan’s Innale.

Jayaram, Sreevidya and Shobhana in a still from P Padmarajan’s Innale. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

This Padmarajan masterpiece is a tender psychological drama about a woman who loses her memory in an accident. As she recuperates at a hospital in a hill station, the doctor’s son, Sarath (Jayaram), falls in love with the woman, who he calls as Maya (Shobana). Meanwhile, Dr Sandhya (Sreevidya), Sarath’s mother who nurses Maya back to health, spares no effort to trace Maya’s background. That is when a US-based doctor Dr Narendran (Suresh Gopi) sees a newspaper clipping and recognises his wife Gauri who went missing during a trip to India.

He reaches the hill station with their wedding album. However, when Maya fails to recognise him and is evidently happy and secure in her relationship with Sarath, Narendran leaves abruptly without revealing the truth. The bitter-sweet ending of the film always has always managed to leave one with a heavy heart.

Adikkurippu (1989)

Mammooty and Jagathy Sreekumar in Adikkurippu.

Mammooty and Jagathy Sreekumar in Adikkurippu. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Written by SN Swamy and directed by K Madhu, Adikkurippu is a legal thriller featuring scenes of courtroom drama and political chicanery on the sidelines. Mammootty (Bhaskaran Pillai), the late Sukumaran, and Jagathy Sreekumar play the lead characters in the movie. Jagathy plays Basheer a castaway who forgets his past in a traumatic incident at sea. Attempts to kill him make it clear that there is a bigger mystery surrounding Basheer. Legal eagle Bhaskaran Pillai helps in clearing the mystery and nabbing the criminals. Basheer reminds one of a character in Arthur Hailey’s novel In High Places.

Utharam (1989)

Mammootty in Utharam.

Mammootty in Utharam. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

After a happy housewife shoots herself to death, her distraught husband seeks her best friend’s help to find out the motive for her violent end.

Scripted by MT Vasudevan Nair, Utharam is based on ‘No Motive’, a short story by Daphne du Maurier. Pavithran helmed the movie with Sukumaran (Mathew), Mammootty (Balu), Suparna (Selina), Parvathy (Shyamala Menon), and Karamana Janaradhanan Nair (Antony) among others.

Balu, a journalist, goes into Selina’s past to find the reasons for her death. He finds some help from her friend Shymala to find some of the answers. In a shocking turn of events, Balu’s quest unravels a tragic tale that Selina’s mind had suppressed all these years after a car accident. We are told that Selina had erased or blocked some traumatic memories, which were revised by a random visitor to her house, leading to her untimely death.

The film ends on a happy note with Balu and Shyamala finding a solution to the problem that had driven Selina to her death.

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