We shot the exteriors at the Hill Palace in Kochi and the Padmanabhaburam Palace near Thiruvananthapuram. Further on in the movie, some supernatural events take place which seem connected to Nakulan’s cousin Sreedevi. In the present-day, a curious Ganga manages to unlock the thekkini, only to find paintings of the Karanavar and Nagavalli, and ancient valuables such as jewellery and musical instruments.

Read on to know where it was shot.

Manichitrathazhu has been remade into 4 more languages- Rajmohol in Bengali, Chandramukhi in Tamil, Apthamitra in Kannada and Bhool Bhulaiyaa in Hindi. Manichitrathazhu was majorly shot in Padmanabhapuram Palace and Hill Palace, Tripunithura. The singing stops as soon as he tries to investigate. Bhagyalakshmi dubbed her voice for Ganga, while Durga gave voice to the character's alter-ego, Nagavalli. [5][19], In a 2013 online poll by IBN Live, Manichitrathazhu was listed second in India's Greatest Film of All Time. Also Read: Tahira Kashyap's Throwback Photo With Her Squad Is Simply Unmissable; See Pic, Also Read: Vikrant Massey's Motivational Insta Post Is All About "great Things" & "letting Go". Manichitrathazhu is that kind of a movie which will not bore you how many ever times you watch it. Sunny is awakened one night by ethereal singing emanating from the locked thekkini room. He digs into Ganga's past with the help of Sreedevi's younger brother Chandu. Directors Priyadarshan, Siddique-Lal, and Sibi Malayil served as the second-unit directors. The credits included only Bhagyalakshmi as the dubbing artiste for Shobana. The couple moves in, following which seemingly supernatural events occur. [5] Even twenty years after its release it has been screened more than 12 times a year on an average on Kerala's leading TV channel, Asianet.

The voice, purportedly belonging to Nagavalli, threatens to kill the Karanavar to avenge her murder and disappears. [9] Other dubbing artistes were Anandavally and Ambili, who dubbed for Vinaya Prasad and Rudra. Apparitions of a woman are witnessed around the mansion, along with paranormal attacks on people at the mansion, including Ganga and Unnithan's daughter Alli. As the couple stays there, they find about the history of the palace. About 12 km from Ernakulam, this palace could be reached by bus or by auto rickshaw. Manichitrathazhu (1993). The famous Malayalam movie depicted various movies including Manichitrathazhu at the palace. It is the largest archeological museum in the state and was the imperial administrative office and official residence of the Cochin Maharaja. The Namboothiripad throws a sword at Ganga's feet and orders Nagavalli to exact her revenge and leave Ganga's body. Manichitrathazhu was majorly shot in Padmanabhapuram Palace and Hill Palace, Tripunithura.

Manichitrathazhu is a Malayalam psychological thriller helmed by Fazil.

Sunny expresses his intent to marry Sreedevi, and they all drive off happily. Sunny reveals his findings and the Namboothiripad vows to help him. Sunny Joseph. [5] The film has consistently fetched maximum ratings for its television screenings. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. The climax scene and major parts of the film were filmed in Padmanabhapuram Palace and Hill Palace, Tripunithura. The palace consists of 49 buildings in the local style of 54 acres and includes the Hill Palace Archaeological Museum, Heritage Museum, Deer Park, Prehistoric Park and Children’s Park. As fate would have it, the Namboothiripad and Sunny are old acquaintances and mutually admire each other's expertise in their respective fields. But … The Ornate Lock) is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language horror psychological thriller film directed by Fazil, written by Madhu Muttam, and produced by Swargachitra Appachan. The mansion was occupied decades ago by Sankaran Thampi Karanavar, a feudal lord of the province and the then-head of the family. Sreedevi's tragic past, along with her perceived gloominess, and her being the only person present during an attack on Ganga, lays cause for suspicion on her. All of them were received well, but none of them was at par with the original.

Nagavalli's voice is heard only in the minor part of the film compared to Ganga's. The poll constituted a list of 100 films from different Indian languages. Hearing about his suspicion, Thampi and family fear that Sreedevi might be possessed by Nagavalli's spirit. The painting of Nagavalli was made by artist Shri R. Madhavan, drawn without a live model.

Nakulan calls his close friend Dr. MG Radhakrishnan composed the songs featured in the movie and, the original music score was done by Johnson.

Her abandonment at the tender age of three had made her a sensitive individual and when her parents eventually returned to take her back to Calcutta and college, she struggled to come to grips with leaving her grandmother and her ancestral home.

Sunny Joseph, a brilliant yet frolicsome psychiatrist who lives in the United States to investigate.On Sunny's entry,Alli was chased by somebody and everyody assumes it is Sreedevi because she was the one who sent Alli there. Since Nagavalli's dialogue are in Tamil language, Fazil hired Tamil dubbing artiste Durga for the part. Some parts of it were also shot in Vasan House which was owned by SS Vasan, owner of Gemini Studios. Learning of their affair and their plan to elope, Thampi murders Nagavalli in her room. Hailing from a traditional family that believes in superstitions, Nakulan's uncles Thampi and Unnithan object to the couple's idea of moving into a mansion that is believed to be haunted, which Nakulan ignores. Later, the Karanavar committed suicide and his spirit was locked up beside the same room, by means of an ornate enchanted lock called a manichitrathazhu. The museum was opened in 1991. [11], Manichitrathazhu performed well at the box office and became the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever, to that date. Upon learning about the unlocking of the thekkini and fearing that the spirits are on the loose, Thampi and family move into the mansion to try and re-seal the thekkini lock, while also looking out for Nakulan and Ganga. [5] The film has received the maximum TRP rating on every screening; TRP ratings have increased every year, a rare record for a film produced in Kerala. Legend has it that on the eighth day of Navaratri, on Durgashtami night, Nagavalli returned as a spirit for the murderous Karanavar, but he escaped upon chanting some mantras. The famous Malayalam movie depicted various movies including Manichitrathazhu at the palace. Similarly, she assumes Nakulan to be the Karanavar and tries to kill him. Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Later, Sreedevi entered a marriage which was short-lived. Shobhana won The National Film Award for Best Actress whereas the movie went on to win the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Mahadevan, in the guise of the dancer Ramanathan, guides the possessed Ganga to a platform where Nakulan, in his role as the Karanavar, is bound as an offering to Nagavalli.

[5] The film completed 319 days of run in 1 releasing theatre. When Ganga transforms into Nagavalli, her alter ego sees her neighbour Mahadevan, who stays in the dancer Ramanathan's old house, as her love interest. [14] As per the statistics of 2015, Manichitrathazhu is the most reviewed horror film ever in IMDb, surpassing Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) with 2517 reviews. The next night, when the singing resumes, Sunny locks the door from outside and walks around in the erstwhile Karanavar's cane and paduka. ", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M4LixcpZNY, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manichitrathazhu&oldid=983282598, Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award winners, Films featuring a Best Actress National Award-winning performance, Malayalam films remade in other languages, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention from August 2020, All Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention, All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Articles needing additional references from January 2016, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Vyjayanthi as Jayasri, youngest daughter of Thampi, The central character played by Shobhana is named Ganga in all the remakes except, P. Vasu also planned to remake it in Tamil as, Even before the movie was officially remade in Kannada in 2004 as, This page was last edited on 13 October 2020, at 10:21.