Aalavandhan

Suresh Krissna's 2001 Tamil film adapts Dhayam, a novel Kamal Haasan wrote in 1984, with Haasan in a double role. Of two brothers abused by their stepmother, Nandu is mentally ill and decides to kill his brother Vijay's fiancée because he identifies her with the stepmother. Turning mental illness into a mechanism of suspense makes the story problematic from here. Technically the film was extraordinarily bold for its moment: Nandu's hallucinations and violent fantasies are shown through animated sequences, a solution untried in Indian cinema until then. A motion-control rig was brought in from Australia for the production. It was shot simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi, the Hindi version titled Abhay. It failed commercially and was reassessed as a cult film years later. Who it's for: viewers interested in Kamal Haasan's experimental work and in technical experiment in Indian cinema. Who it's not for: anyone sensitive to representations of mental illness, or avoiding intense violence and content about child abuse.