Sarvam Maya

Prabhendu is a young Hindu priest whose life is orderly, calm and predictable. After a ritual a spirit attaches itself to him and will not leave. What looks at first like a supernatural problem turns after a while into something else: a reckoning that tests his faith and everything he thought he knew. Akhil Sathyan writes and directs. Nivin Pauly plays Prabhendu, with Riya Shibu, Preity Mukhundhan, Aju Varghese, Janardanan, Althaf Salim and Vineeth. Justin Prabhakaran wrote the music. The genre is horror comedy, but the tone sits mostly on the comic side: a supernatural narrative settled into daily life with no intention of frightening anyone. This vein is common in Malayalam cinema, using a ghost story not for horror but to make a character's inner problem speak. Here it works through faith, and the contradiction between the priest's profession and what he meets is the engine. Akhil Sathyan is the son of the well known Malayalam director Sathyan Anthikad, and this is his second film. Nivin Pauly leans to the comic side in the part, and the film's rhythm depends largely on him. Who it is for: viewers who like Malayalam horror comedy and films that speak about belief in a light register. Who it is not for: anyone expecting horror finds none, the pace drops in the middle, and the romantic line never quite fits.