{"id":36928,"date":"2024-10-31T23:13:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T23:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/?p=36928"},"modified":"2024-10-31T23:13:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T23:13:21","slug":"director-frightens-trick-or-treating-of-bramayugam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/director-frightens-trick-or-treating-of-bramayugam\/","title":{"rendered":"Director Frightens: Trick-or-treating of \u201cBramayugam\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Poster of the he movie \u201c<\/span><\/span>Brama<\/span><\/span>y<\/span><\/span>uga<\/span><\/span>m<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a journey between noble houses, T<\/span><\/span>h<\/span><\/span>evan and his companion <\/span><\/span>rest<\/span><\/span> in <\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span> forest where an alien presence manifests in rustling sounds that pierce the night.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>Despite warnings to keep the fire burning as a ward against spirits, Thevan<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>succumbs to sleep. Awakening <\/span><\/span>to<\/span><\/span> darkness, he finds only dying embers<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>and witnesses a Yakshi spirit, veiled in beauty, drawing his companion toward certain doom.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>Powerless against the illusion, the cowardly Tevan flees, stumbling through the forest until he discovers a weathered portal<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>entrance to a mana, a Brahmin’s domain. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Still from the movie \u201c<\/span><\/span>Brama<\/span><\/span>y<\/span><\/span>uga<\/span><\/span>m<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Here<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>dwells<\/span><\/span> a demon alongside his servant<\/span><\/span>–<\/span><\/span>cook, another <\/span><\/span>soul<\/span><\/span> who, like Thevan, stumbled into this trap with no escape. <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>Once you <\/span><\/span>cross <\/span><\/span>the estate<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s threshold, it becomes rivers, valleys, and mountains,<\/span><\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/span>the old-timer instructs. Initially<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>dismiss<\/span><\/span>ing<\/span><\/span> this as mere metaphor for the estate<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s vastness, Thevan <\/span><\/span>soon<\/span><\/span> discovers <\/span><\/span>this realm <\/span><\/span>operates<\/span><\/span> as a pocket-dimension where <\/span><\/span>time<\/span><\/span> is<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>warped, <\/span><\/span>the nights stretch interminably. <\/span><\/span>T<\/span><\/span>he house rules prove far from hospitable: the darkest gallery is forbidden, the demon must not be angered, and <\/span><\/span>any <\/span><\/span>attempt<\/span><\/span> to <\/span><\/span>escape <\/span><\/span>brings forth blood<\/span><\/span>. Though, somewhere within this labyrinthine <\/span><\/span>mansion <\/span><\/span>rests a key to the chamber <\/span><\/span>of<\/span><\/span> the demon<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>eternal<\/span><\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/span>flame, and perhaps therein<\/span><\/span>\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Still from the movie \u201cBramayugam\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/span>Brahma-Yuga<\/span><\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/span>is a deviation of Kali-Yuga, <\/span><\/span>an <\/span><\/span>epoch that concludes each thousand Maha-Yugas<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>collectively forming a Kalpa<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>a single<\/span><\/span> day in the 100-year existence of the supreme deity Brahma, yet equal to 4.32 billion earthly years. The film interweaves <\/span><\/span>such<\/span><\/span> threads of Indian folklore, and <\/span><\/span>those who<\/span><\/span> pay attention and follow its mounting tension may find themselves spiraling into <\/span><\/span>the narrative<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> claustrophobic embrace, much <\/span><\/span>as<\/span><\/span> T<\/span><\/span>h<\/span><\/span>evan is confined<\/span><\/span> within<\/span><\/span> the demon<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s lair. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Still from the movie \u201cBramayugam\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The demonic entity takes human form through 72-year-old Mammootty, a mega-star of Mollywood (South India<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> answer <\/span><\/span>to<\/span><\/span> Bollywood) with a career spanning over 400 films, predominantly as the lead. Largely due to his nuanced portrayal of the monster<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>complete with spontaneous bursts of infernal laughter<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>the atmospheric dread<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>steadily ratchets up. Mammootty<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s magnetic presence is so compelling<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>that his character<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s aura lingers even in scenes where he<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s physically absent. Amplifying this unsettling atmosphere, the director<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>Rahul Sadasivan opted for stark black and white cinematography<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>likely the first time an entire generation of Kerala<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s moviegoers has a monochrome film in theaters. And perhaps not by chance<\/span><\/span> do those<\/span><\/span> symmetrical<\/span><\/span>mounds<\/span><\/span> of rice flanking the <\/span><\/span>manor<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> granary <\/span><\/span>echo<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>the<\/span><\/span> famous <\/span><\/span>shot<\/span><\/span> from <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>Solaris<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Still from the movie \u201cBramayugam\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some might view this work with skepticism, arguing that it falls short as a horror film due to its sparse outright scares. Nevertheless, <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>Bramayugam<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span> is a well-crafted <\/span><\/span>gothic<\/span><\/span> epic that reads as an allegory <\/span><\/span>for<\/span><\/span> power, corruption, and subjugation: its characters regularly grab each other by the throat, caught in cycles of dependency and brutality.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>Though class warfare may invert the social order<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>the last becoming first<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>the most malevolent and dangerous force across all realms <\/span><\/span>and ages <\/span><\/span>remains humanity itself.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Within Indian tradition, the veil between the natural and the supernatural\u2014like that between the individual and the absolute\u2014hangsprecariously thin, allowing spirits and demons to drift between realms, bending mortals to their whims through deception or wisdom\u2026 Such truths flow through the verses of the wandering singer Thevan, whose hymns of gods and demigods enchant the courts of South Malabar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":36918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"type_post":[],"column":[],"class_list":["post-36928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36928"},{"taxonomy":"type_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_post?post=36928"},{"taxonomy":"column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column?post=36928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}