Director Basil Joseph and actors Tovino Thomas peeled back some of the darker layers of his latest film Minnal Murali during a long discussion with Indian Express Senior film critic Shubhra Gupta. The Netflix film has won the favor of audiences across the globe and has really broken down the language barrier.
The duo addressed how the topic of mental illness, the social stigma surrounding it and the lack of awareness about mental health in the society formed the main narrative of Minnal Murali, which surfaced on the OTT platform on December 24 last year.
Even though Hollywood superhero movies have precedents about how society’s apathy turns ordinary people into supervillains, Basil’s inspiration for this was Desi, like your superhero character Minnal Murali,
There is a film called Thaniyavartanam (1987), in which the protagonist’s uncle is mentally ill. And the society thinks that the hero has inherited his uncle’s illness. And he is treated like an outcast. But, eventually, he will become something like… (Shibu). Shibu’s mother has a mental illness and the society thinks that she might have inherited the disease. So they treat him like an outcast. Even when he is asked to marry a girl, the girl’s brother turns down her offer citing her mother’s mental illness.
A still from Minal Murali. (Photo: Netflix)
Tulsi explained that Sibhu’s anger did not stem from any disease, but from the pain caused by years of abuse and humiliation.
“In the beginning of the film, when Sibu says that he has lost his wallet, the police officer wonders, ‘You have a wallet too?’ As if he was someone who shouldn’t have a wallet. And the tea stall owner slaps Sibhu on the head. After years of misbehavior by people, he becomes lonely and loses faith in himself But, with his superpower, he becomes more confident. He starts combing his hair, cutting his nails. Being mentally ill, Sibhu is not doing what he is doing He acts this way because he is treated like a crazy person.”
Tovino Thomas also revealed that at first, he wanted to play Sibhu as he felt it had a very strong emotional core. But, he gave up on his wish, when Tulsi tells him that he plans to convert Minnal Murali into a franchise. “I asked Tulsi if I can play Sibhu. And when the role of the villain is getting all the praise, I am very proud that my decision was right,” he said.
And Tovino believes that while Sibhu isn’t inherently evil, there are more villainous characters in the film that go unpunished.
“I think he (Sibhu) hasn’t been the villain of the film for a while. I think the people around Sibhu are more villainous than him, including the man who sets Sibhu’s house on fire. Sibhu whatever He’s doing it at his own loss. He’s not doing it just to hurt people. He’s been treated like sh**t since childhood and so he’s going to give back to those people. But, a lot of innocent people come under Sibhu’s attack and so Jason had to intervene and do all this. So I don’t consider him as an ugly villain that we see in other movies,” he explained.
Tulsi suggests that while one cannot justify Sibhu going on a killing spree, the audience should also be aware of the reasons that inspired Sibhu’s actions.
“The actions of Sibhu cannot be justified and at the same time, the actions of the people around Sibhu cannot be justified. They make Sibhu the villain and then judge him. I don’t think it’s fair,” Tovino said.
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