30 years apart, Raat and Bhoothakaalam create similar terrors in audience's hearts

Strange as it may seem but Psycho’s meek, helpless loner Norman Bates and Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s towering, senseless brute Leatherface were both inspired by the real-life crimes of one person. Ed Gein’s heinous offences made Alfred Hitchcock and Tobe Hooper take different routes and create dissimilar characters but there were still thematic commonalities in these films as they dealt with the subjects of loneliness, mental health issues and the idea of hidden evil.

Recently, Revathi won the Best Actor (Female) award at the 52nd Kerala State Film Awards for her portrayal of Asha, a depressed single mother, in the psychological thriller Bhoothakaalam . Incidentally, the versatile actress had also featured in an iconic horror role thirty years ago; portraying Mini, a college-going youngster, in Raat.

Though dealing with malignant spirits shadowing their troubled pasts, the two movies build their horror in different styles.

Raat is the story of a family which becomes the victim of a malicious force soon after moving into a new neighbourhood. Horror sits at every nook and corner of the film from the very start as it manages to keep the viewers on edge.

On the other hand, Bhoothakaalam focuses on Asha’s fractured relationship with her son Vinu. The film manages to cleverly interweave its horror into their tensions and respective mental health disorders, keeping the evil entity hidden in plain sight.

Yet the movies employ an identical essence of fear. There is lesser emphasis on gory sequences and jump scares, rather they terrify their audiences through the unknown, unexplained and the inanimate.

In Bhoothakaalam, Vinu’s torment begins with him being followed by an unknown entity. In one sequence, we find him being approached by a female figure in the dark which disappears after he switches on the lights. Inanimate objects such as Asha’s mother’s glasses being misplaced, doors shutting on their own, and the washing machine switching itself on further emphasise the helplessness of the household members against the supernatural.

In _Raa_t, handheld Point-of-view shots inform the audience of Mini’s haunting and possession by a menacing spirit. Her friend Rashmi’s gruesome death is vividly described but the body is never shown on screen. This disturbing image is teleported to the viewers through a twisted and broken doll thrown away by Mini, the implication being that Rashmi’s end was as brutal.

Despite following dissimilar paths in terms of charting their horrors, both Raat and Bhoothakaalam manage to get the viewers invested in their characters and care for their welfare against incorporeal malevolent forces emanating from houses with troubled pasts.

Revathi’s Mini and Asha are quite the opposite. The former is a lively girl who likes to enjoy the life with her friends, and at the same time respects her family. Asha, on the other hand, is a middle-aged woman stuck in the past. She restricts herself as an individual and doesn’t want her son to leave the town either.

Underneath these differences, however, the two share similar issues. Both of them are lonely and find it difficult to connect with their family members.

This is quite apparent in Asha’s case; who seems lost at work, gets overtly irritated at minor issues and is tired of life. Her loneliness hits us when she hastily aborts a regular clinic visit after realizing that her old therapist, a female voice in whom she found some solace has been transferred and replaced with a male doctor.

Despite her outward appearance, Mini too suffers from loneliness. She has lost an elder sibling and barring Rashmi and Deepak, who appear sporadically in her life, she doesn’t have anyone to relate to. She tries her best to understand and appease her parents, but never really connects with them. When she goes through inexplicable nightmares and horrors even before her possession, she doesn’t relay them to her parents or friends.

Both Asha and Mini suffer from a communication gap with their family members, which is informed by the age gap between them and their close ones. The one-time Asha and Vinu try to have a discussion about his future, they end up fighting due to difference in their respective outlooks and Asha’s own fears.

Mini finds support in her father at times but finds herself at odds with her parents’ conservative belief system regarding the kind of clothes she should wear or how she should interact with boys at her age.

These disparate characters facing similar issues are brought to life by Revathi’s excellence on the screen. In Raat, she’s brilliant as a modern-day girl struggling to find her voice. This is best represented in the cinema hall sequence. Mini goes for a movie with her friends, and is having the time of her life. The camera zooms in on her cheerful face and then recedes, only for us to realize that she’s all alone. The terrified girl runs around the empty hall in search for an exit from this daytime nightmare. Soon after though, she finds herself back amongst her friends as if nothing had happened. She looks around perplexed, and then sinks back in, putting on a smile and trying to enjoy herself. This small sequence takes place before her possession, yet Revathi is able to show Mini’s desperation to fit in, and appear normal for the sake of others, all the while hiding what’s eating her from the inside.

In Bhoothakaalam, Revathi channels the many facets of a troubled, ageing mother with aplomb. During the film’s climax, the mother and son face the monumental task of fighting against the malevolent entity inhabiting their house. Asha, who had not long back given up on her will to live, fights her weaknesses to protect her son. Revathi’s Asha struggles amidst the terror that surrounds her but eventually shows the indomitable spirit which leads them to safety.

Thirty years apart, Raat and Bhoothakaalam are two fine examples of movies which create horror that never quite leaves the screen. Despite being different in their approaches, they touch upon related themes which are brought to life by exceptional lead performances from Revathi.

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