Ganga-Nagavalli Character Analysis by Eassa Fairoos PA, MA CTV

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Ganga-Nagavalli Character Analysis

Submitted by
Eassa Fairoos P.A
MA Cinema & Television
It is nearing three decades since Manichithrathazhu (1993) was

released. But Nagavalli, with her fiery eyes and supernatural prowess,
remains vivid in our minds. Manichithrathazhu is considered as a classic
psychological thriller in the history of Malayalam film industry with
Shobana starring which also gave way for her to win the National
Award for Best Actress. A character like Ganga and Nagavalli would
stay in our mind as an intensified reality which is inerasable. The
expressions, music and dance rendered through Ganga allow the
audience to create a mood and understand the movie in a percipient
manner.
Even though Shobana had been acting in Malayalam movies since

1984, I never used to consider her as a top-notch actress. All changed
once Manichithrathazhu was released. Audiences were stunned by her
performance and mesmerized by the final Bharatanatyam dance number
and exorcism scenes. She literally swept best actress award category at
all levels – Film-Fare, Film-Critics, Kerala State and National awards,
you name it. The multiple-personality character of Ganga was a role of a
lifetime and only an actress who possesses superior acting and classical-
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dancing skills and the physicality required to project a vindictive, super-

natural heroine, could have done full justice to such a role. I just cannot
think of any other actress other than Shobana to match this requirement.
Ganga is a deeply sensitive child. Her parents put her to the care of
her grandmother while they migrate to Calcutta to pursue their career.
Ganga yearns for her parents, but there is nothing she can do about it.
Being overly sensitive, her mind refuses to accept this predicament. And
thus, she dissociates from these negative emotions by subconsciously
repressing them and fixating on the folklore, superstition and rituals that
dominate her grandmother’s world. The fixation develops into an
obsession, for it takes her away from the negativity of the repressed
emotions. This personality evolves and becomes her identity from that
point in time. The repressed personality remains dormant within her,
completely detached from her evolving personality. And thus, Ganga
grows up to be this gentle, indrawn character who has a passion for
books, poetry and legends.
The protagonist, Ganga, who is later diagnosed with a disorder, enters

the scene with a sense of curiosity to understand and explore the
untouched world of Madampally. Being married to the family as the
wife of Nakulan, the family warns her of the beliefs of the spiritual
inside world. But the giant old bungalow welcomes her warmly to each
corner and urges her to look at each antique piece. Even after being
conscious of the intensity of the warning, old time stories of Nagavalli
and the King, Sankaran Thampi who kills her, make her probe more into
these issues. She unlocks the ornate lock. After entering the tabooed
strange room called Thekkini, a sense of psychological trance is
reflected in her face. In addition, she falls into auditory hallucinations of
appealing songs which also substantiate the fact that she had sympathy
for Nagavalli. The appearance of Nagavalli, the dancer and her
ornaments fascinates her to an unimaginable level that a mere sympathy
for the dancer turns into an inextricable empathy.
The part about Sankaran Thampi, coming in the way of Nagavalli’s

love and desires, evokes in Ganga the same negative emotions that she
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has run away from. She deeply empathizes with Nagavalli, to the point
that the empathy unlocks her alter ego yet again. Each night, her
obsession takes her to the ‘Thekkini’, where the life-like portraits of
Nagavalli and Sankaran Thampi, the jewellery of the dancer, and all the
other remnants of the past, create the perfect environment for her to
fixate on Nagavalli, which unlocks her alter ego. The alter ego lashes
out powerfully and performs to exhaustion. When Ganga wakes up in
the morning, she has no memory of the alter ego. And thus, these two
personalities switch from one to the other, each amnesic of the other.
Also, they are in total contrast to each other, each with its own postures,
gestures and distinct way of talking.
It is not strange that the alter ego speaks in a language alien to her
(Tamil). The language must have been imbibed by her subconscious as a
part of her childhood fixation to the numerous elements of the external
world around her. Mood swings are a characteristic feature of this
disorder, which is brilliantly enacted by Shobana (Ganga) in various
instances. For instance, the time when the psychiatrist questions the
authenticity of Nagavalli’s anklets and gets into a conflict with Ganga.
Also, the time when Nakulan denies permission to Ganga to go with Alli
to purchase jewellery. These are moments when the mellow Ganga
abruptly gives way to the fierce Nagavalli.
Everyone agrees that the two peak moments of Shobana’s
performance in the movie are:
1. The scene where Ganga turns into Nagavalli and then back into
Ganga upon Nakulan’s refusal to her shopping plans.
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2. The final Bharatanatyam dance and exorcism scenes.
But I want to draw everyone’s attention to some of the nuances in

Shobana’s characterization of the mild-mannered Ganga which may not
be very obvious in first time or casual viewing. If you watch the movie a
second time and carefully observe Ganga, you can see that in many of
the scenes Shobana has used many subtle eyebrow arching’s, eye
twitches, facial contractions, expressions and mannerisms, accurately
portraying the agony and reactions of a repressed of mental patient.
In fact, three of such scenes are narrated (and shown again as brief
flashbacks) when Dr. Sunny explains Ganga’s multiple-personality
disorder to her husband Nakulan.
These three scenes are:

1. Ganga’s hyper-enthusiasm when she shows Nagavalli’s ornaments to
Dr. Sunny and her subsequent anxiety when one of the anklets
(“chilanka”) is missing.
2. The out-of-control altercation at the temple between Dr. Sunny and

Ganga about the anklet.
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3. Ganga’s reaction when she arrives at the congregation where Dr.

Sunny had just busted her plan to kill Nakulan by poisoning his tea.
In all these moments, Ganga is on the verge of a mental breakdown and

Dr. Sunny is seen diffusing the tension and switching the discussion by
forcefully clapping his hands. The challenge in these situations is to not
over-do it since it should not visible at first viewing (which would kill
the suspense) but do it with controlled intensity so that someone
watching the movie a second time can clearly observe it. The story of
this movie is like a puzzle which has enough clues embedded within it
to solve itself!
Other similar but subtler acting moments:

1. Scene after the glass pane of the wall-clock is broken during a
“ghost” incident at night. Ganga is shown terrified but at the same
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time there is an expression of relief in her face because no one is

suspecting her.
2. Scene when Nakulan and Ganga meets Dr. Sunny on the day of his
arrival and asks about Sridevi’s diagnosis. Dr. Sunny says that its
curable since the illness is in its primary stages. On hearing this,
Ganga is experiencing eye-twitching and facial contractions.
3. Scene when Kunjamma (KPAC Lalitha) explains to Ganga about

Sridevi’s divorce and subsequent depression. Watch for Ganga’s
walking posture, facial contractions and expressions.
4. Scene when Dr. Sunny jovially sings “Oru muria vanthu parayo…”
when Ganga was giving him a guided tour of the forbidden Thekkini.
Her smile slowly transforms into an angry, irritated expression. In
fact, all the scenes when Ganga and Sunny are in the Thekkini are
sprinkled with great acting moments by both these legends.
5. Scene of Ganga watching the Kathakali performance at the temple.

Ganga sits distant from her family members and the expression on
her face is that of complete self-identification with the love-torn
characters of the Kathakali unfolding in front of her eyes.
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6. These subtle acting moments are very difficult to perform and the
actress in Shobana should be celebrated for doing an accurate and
convincing job at this. Director Fazil also made the climax dance
sequence very interesting by showing the real Nagavalli dancing as a
courtesan inside Ganga’s split mental space. This gave ample
opportunity in this dance sequence to explore most of the navarasas
(nine facial expressions) used in Indian classical dances. And
Shobana performed this dance sequence beyond perfection. It reveals
an artist who is in complete control of her facial expressions and
fully aware of how a cinematographer’s camera will project them
onto silver screen.
Another important aspect of this movie is that it is a repository of

some of the gems in Indian classical music and dance. I can write an
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entire article analysing the appropriateness of the ragas of the songs

chosen by composer M.G. Radhakrishnan. Or, analysing the adavus and
abhinaya in the Bharatanatyam number choreographed and performed
by Shobana (joined at the end by Sridhar).
Shobana is undoubtedly the soul of this movie. The balance between

Nagavalli and Ganga were marvellously portrayed by Shobana. Shobana
wasn't an all-rounder like Urvashi or Revathi, but even today many pick
her as the best actress ever happened in Malayalam. The main reason for
it is Manichitrathazhu. Nagavalli is the ultimate. Whether be the
dialogues or mannerisms, the atmosphere created by Nagavalli was so
terrifying. Shobana, as both Ganga and Nagavalli is still seen as
something matchless, even in entire Indian cinema. Whenever we watch
this epic, we could feel the fear. Her transformation from Ganga to
Nagavalli really made this movie an unbelievable one. Moreover, her
dance. How easily she does it! Certain moments in this movie are
literally irreplaceable in Mollywood.
Towards the end, she was acting like "'she was ready for the kill". The
sound modulation and powerful eyes of her were the highlights of this
movie, especially the last half an hour. A huge credit must be given to
the dubbing also. In some scenes, Shobana was neither acting nor living,
she was just shining. The best moments in Indian cinema will definitely
contain the last 30 minutes of Manichitrathazhu for sure.

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1

Ganga-Nagavalli Character Analysis

It is nearing three decades since Manichithrathazhu (1993) was

Even though Shobana had been acting in Malayalam movies since

dancing skills and the physicality required to project a vindictive, super-

The protagonist, Ganga, who is later diagnosed with a disorder, enters

The part about Sankaran Thampi, coming in the way of Nagavalli’s

2. The final Bharatanatyam dance and exorcism scenes.

But I want to draw everyone’s attention to some of the nuances in

These three scenes are:

2. The out-of-control altercation at the temple between Dr. Sunny and

3. Ganga’s reaction when she arrives at the congregation where Dr.

In all these moments, Ganga is on the verge of a mental breakdown and

Other similar but subtler acting moments:

time there is an expression of relief in her face because no one is

3. Scene when Kunjamma (KPAC Lalitha) explains to Ganga about

5. Scene of Ganga watching the Kathakali performance at the temple.

Another important aspect of this movie is that it is a repository of

entire article analysing the appropriateness of the ragas of the songs

Shobana is undoubtedly the soul of this movie. The balance between

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