JAC : A Journal Of Composition Theory ISSN : 0731-6755

Ethical and Psychoanalytic Perspectives in the Film ‘Drishyam’:

A Phenomenological Study.

-Arya.C.A, Research Scholar,Dept.of English

Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli

&Prof.Dr.D.Radharemanan Pillai (Research Supervisor)

Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli

Abstract

Film is a powerful medium which can influence a huge mass and can create a
spontaneous response.Film theory has traditionally been wary of cinema’s ethical potential,
treating it as a fascinating yet deceptive medium requiring theoretical analysis and ethico-
political critique. Familiar to many are how theoretical claims about the ideological power of the
“apparatus,” and its pernicious capacity for the manipulation of audiences through visual
identification and narrative pleasure, fueled the development of a research paradigm that has
only recently began to wane. Although philosophers of film have begun to explore the question
of ethics and cinema, there is surprisingly little consensus on what this means. How do movies
express ethical ideas? How can they reveal the complexities of a moral or political situation?
What kind of ethical experience can cinema evoke? How far is the director successful in creating
an ambience to show the inner conflict in the protagonist’s mind etc. This paper tries to explore
these questions by analyzingJeethu Joseph’s Drishyam 1 & 2, Qualitative, Quantitative and
Structural Method is used to analyze the movie. The significance of this research falls under two
categories: practical significance and theoretical significance. Practical research is important
because human life should prioritize compassion to others, with affection he will approach a
good brotherhood, which will provide a harmonious social relationship.

Keywords: Cinematic Ethics, Emotion, Empathy, Ethics, Film Aesthetics, Film Philosophy

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“Movies touch our hearts, and awaken our vision, and change the way we see
things. They take us to other places. They open doors and minds. Movies are
the memories of our lifetime”. (Scorcese, Martin)

Malayalam cinema reveals powerful ways in which the society responds to the horrid or
sordid conditions of modernity, and the emergence of the modern subject (a prioritization of
society over the subject/the subject socialized into given roles). The hooting and screeching of
modernity no less than the ritual noises of savages, with the arrangement of well constituted
pitch, rhythm, tonality and harmony, in which music has disguised its non-aesthetic functions of
conveying signals or acting on the nerves, are entwined with the visuality before the viewer. The
appeal of the Malayalam cinema is directed to an audience so diverse that it transcends social
and spatial categories. Malayalam cinema is seen as a mixture of various traditional art forms
like music, dance, dance-drama, mimicry and the like. Connecting these various disparate
elements is the storyline which often showed the triumph of the good over the evil. Malayalam
films have come out with scathing criticism and satires on the hollow ideals and hypocrisy
widely rampant in the Kerala society. Films re-represent a segment of reality within a particular
duration. We ‘see’ into the past/present/future through the camera which ‘preserves it. To
achieve aesthetic/unaesthetic effect, a filmmaker makes specific choices--costume, make up,
colours, the object is filmed from a certain angle, the camera moves or does not move (extreme
close ups, panning to linger on an object or to evoke disgust), the colour is bright or dull (lighting
is important in shaping meaning—a dark/shadowy room creating a eerie/scary feel), the object is
focused on or fading, apparent or hidden, the background clear (so that the object is seen in
context) or vague (so that it is isolated), the shot held for a long time or briefly, and so on. Film
settings too are not inert containers of or backdrops to action but themselves charged with
significance. Particular items and combinations may index national identity, class allegiance,
subculture affiliation, gender position, emotional or psychological status. It reinforces already
established meanings. Films are shaped to reflect facts of reality as closely as possible (even
similar in their basic form)--stratified according to the tastes of particular groups. Malayalam
cinema reinforces/questions these ideological patterns in relation to the social reality. It makes
use of audio-visual potential to present sight, sound (the sound in step with the visual
presentation), smell, taste and touch in relation to ‘unaesthetic’. Films have a unique set of
ideological, social, cultural, industrial and economic contexts and determinants. It can never free

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itself from these contextual analyses in which they were produced and consumed. Malayalam
cinema, from its inception, was strongly rooted in the contemporary social reality. It is a ‘site’ of
social action and intervention where power relations are both established and potentially
unsettled. Cinema makes use of the ugly in order to criticize/denounce the world which creates
and recreates ugliness in its own image. Malayalam cinema seeks strictly to reproduce the world
of everyday perception. The more densely and completely its techniques duplicate empirical
objects, the more easily it creates the illusion that the world outside is a seamless extension of the
one which has been revealed in the cinema.

Film is a form of creative expression which primarily employs a visual medium of

communication. Since it is strongly dependent on the technical aspects, it can be considered as a
complex work of art, which combines the visual and acoustic elements. Film employs a set of
unique features and terminology and has emerged as a powerful new art form. It is a type of
visual communication which uses moving pictures and sound to tell stories or inform. People in
every part of the world watch movies as a type of entertainment, a way to have fun. For some
people, fun movies can mean movies that make them laugh, while for others it can mean movies
that make them cry, or feel afraid. There are many genres of movie, and one of them is Thriller.
The main goal of the thriller is to bring a tense atmosphere amongst the audience. Therefore, the
themes presented are themes of mystery, spies, or even conspiracy theories. It’s not unusual that
a thriller usually takes you as a detective who is carrying a murder. In a thriller, the battle
between protagonist and antagonist is very important. Usually, the antagonist role in the thriller
often appears as someone stronger or smarter than powerful that it must be defeated in
unexpected ways. Thriller movies usually emphasize more on their moral messages. Sometimes
it’s an ideology issue or even an awareness of justice and morals.

Jeethu Joseph is an Indian film director and screenwriter, who work in Malayalam
cinema. Towards the end of 2013, the drama-thriller Drishyam starring Mohanlal was released,
which was well received critically and commercially. It was the highest-grossing Malayalam
film, until 2016. Drishyam was remade in Tamil by Jeethu with Kamal Haasan enacting
Mohanlal's role. It was also remade to Telugu, Kannada and Hindi by other directors.

Drishyam (English: Visual) is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language drama-thriller film.

The story follows the struggle of Georgekutty and his family, who come under the suspicion

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when VarunPrabhakar, the son of the Inspector-General of police, goes missing after an attempt
to physically harass Georgekutty's daughter.Georgekutty (Mohanlal) is an orphan who had
dropped out of school after his 4th grade. Now he is a businessman running a cable TV service in
a rural area. He is married to Rani (Meena) and they have two daughters, Anju (Ansiba Hassan)
and Anu (Esther Anil). His only interest apart from his family is watching films. He spends most
of his time in front of the TV in his small office.

During a nature camp, Anju gets photographed in the bathroom by a hidden cell phone.
The culprit, Varun (RoshanBasheer), is the son of police Inspector General GeethaPrabhakar
(AshaSarath). Varun is accidentally killed by Rani and her daughter when he comes to blackmail
them. They hide his body in a compost pit, which is witnessed by Anu. Rani tells Georgekutty
about the incident and he devises a way to save his family from the law. He removes the broken
cell phone and disposes of Varun's car, which is seen by Constable Sahadevan
(KalabhavanShajon), who has a grudge against Georgekutty. Georgekutty takes them out on a
trip to Thodupuzha to pray in a church, watch a movie and eat at a restaurant. Geetha, seeing that
her son has gone missing, starts an investigation.

After a preliminary investigation, Geetha calls Georgekutty and family for questioning.
Georgekutty, who had predicted that this would happen, had already taught his family how to
change their alibi at the time of murder. When questioned individually, they give the same
replies. Georgekutty also presents the bill of the restaurant, the movie ticket and the bus tickets
as proof of their alibi. Geetha questions the owners of the establishments they have been to and
their statements prove Georgekutty's alibi. However, Geetha realizes later that Georgekutty had
faked the evidence and established his alibi on the owners by going on a trip with his family to
the same establishments later.

Geetha arrests Georgekutty and family and Sahadevan uses brute force to beat the truth
out of them. Eventually, Anu gives in and reveals the place where the body is buried. After
digging the compost pit, they find the carcass of a calf, indicating that Georgekutty had moved
the body. Anu reports to the media and complains against Sahadevan. The constable is
suspended and Geetha resigns from her post.

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Later, Geetha and Prabhakar (Siddique) meet Georgekutty to ask forgiveness for their
rude and violent behavior. Prabhakar asks Georgekutty if he can tell them about their son.
Georgekutty then reveals indirectly that his family has committed a crime. Now in remand,
Georgekutty signs a register at the newly constructed local police station. As he leaves, a
flashback shows him leaving the incomplete police station with a shovel in hand, indicating that
he has hidden Varun's body in the foundations of the police station itself.

The title of the film shows the central idea of the film ie; ‘Drishyam’ which means a
visual. A picture or scene which we once seen will not be forgets easier than anything else. Here
in the film, Mohanlal who is not educated well and the extra knowledge he gained is through
films. Even though he is neither a professional killer nor an intelligent guy. But he develops
himself into a professional killer by hiding all evidences. Film is a powerful medium which
imprints a strong idea in our mind.Mohanlal tries to reconstruct the issue and started analyzing it
from the beginning onwards. Then he finds his own way to solve the issue. Writer feel compelled
to select problem solving topics of this movie. There are four kinds problem solving was deemed
important to be discussed by the authors, namely: comprehend the problem, arrange the plan, run
the plan, test and retest the plan. The four problems solving were chosen because the authors
were interested to see how the main characters solve every problems that come to them. Besides,
this movie also teaches the power of suggestion and memory calling.

As qualitative analysis has been adopted in this research thesis, the film has been divided
into several segments. The first segment is the story line, which focuses on the director, the
method he adopted to develop the storyline. The writer has been compelled to create a problem
and he then used methods to solve the problem. Though the beginning of the story narrates the
happy life of the family, the scene was totally changed when the antagonist (VarunPrabhakar)
enters the scene. After the murder the writer left some evidences for the development of the
story. Georgekutty was seen by Sahadevan and he reports it to the higher officials.

Just as Lacan and Freud has pointed, the writer focuses on Georgekutty. As a professional
oneGeorgekuttyvery well predicted the next moment. He at one point says that “attitude is
everything; we will be caught/ noticed by others if we shows over anxiety. At many situations
Sahadevan was observing Georgekutty.

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“Sir…..?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Don’t be stubborn, you aleady have a grudge against him. Look god is the
reason behind all adversity”

“Sir, I saw him drive the car. When I spoke of the car now, he was shocked.
Sir he has something to do with this case. Look if he is guilty, he will surely
turn and look at us”

Georgekutty was successful in his character for finding the correct problem. The director
has used montage technique to condense a prolonged event, experience, or transformation into a
few seconds by cutting rapidly through a series of images to show the rapid passage of time He
asked the family to explain what really happened. The next dialogue that shows how
comprehended the problem was when his wife, Rani asked him about what they had done to
Varun’s body.

Rani: Did I make a mistake by burying him?

Varun: No. You did the right thing.

Georgekutty seemed to understand the problems that existed when he began to ask whether
Varuncame in his car, then told his family to clean up the scene of action

Rani:No.

Gerogekutty: Let’s go. Where did Varun fall when you hit him?

Rani: Right there. What are you searching for?

Georgekutty: Blood. There’s not a single drop of blood here. When you hit
him with the stick, did you hit his head? Perhaps, it’s an internal injury. We
have to clean the outhouse, thoroughly. Just a moment.

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Based on the dialogues above, Georgekuttyseemed to understand well about their

problem. Then he took varun’s mobile SIM card and saved it. He also understood their family’s
problem well when Anju tried to make self-defense

Anju: I didn’t mean to killVarun. I was just trying to break his phone. But, he
didn’t let go...

Georgekutty: I know. I know! [2]

After comprehending the problems,Georgekuttythen arranging the plans ranging from

asking his family to close all the doors and windows to make as if they were not at home,
eliminating evidence of varun’s car that parked not far from their home at the night he was
killed.

Georgekutty: Don’t leave the house until I get back. Don’t call anyone.
Keep the doors and windows locked. It should appear as if no one is at
home.

Rani: Where are you going?

Georgekutty: I have to find the car and take it somewhere else. [2]

After arranging all the plans, Georgekuttythen ran those plans one by one, starting from
moving Varun’s car to anywhere, activating Varun’s phone SIM card, then went to Parepalli.
This scene took part when Anju was interrogated by some police to know whetherVaruncame to
her house or not. This scene showed that Georgekuttyreally ran the plan he made. To make sure
that all of his plans running Georgekutty re-tested the plans by influencing the mindset of those
whom they encountered beforehand so that they might think that it was true that
aGeorgekuttyand his family had traveled on the night of varun’s disappearance. It
wasGeorgekutty’s attempt to check on the success of their plan.Georgekutty advised his daughter
and wife:

Georgekutty: Weshouldn’tlook scared/worried, that is what will give us

away. I realized this when my office boy asked if I was fine. If a simpleton
can understand something has changed, anyone can.

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Rani: so does he suspect something is amiss?

Georgekutty: he did for a while. But when I spoke to him as usual, he forgot
about it. So we should all behave normally from now onwards.

This shows the development of the character. Georgekutty has developed himself from
the level of a common man to a mentalist.

Drishyam clearly reflects the four kinds of problem solving as proposed by Redoni
(2017), i.e. comprehend the problem, arrange the plan, run the plan, and test and re-test the plan.
JeethuJoseph takes the problem as his field and undertakes to naturalize it. He has reached the
object by skillfully combining the dialogues used by the characters and choosing the settings of
the movie. From this movie, Jeethu tells implicitly how to solve the problem excellently. The
audiences of this movie are suggested to take care of the fourth characteristics. There is an
advice given through this movie that people should comprehend the problem that they got to
know what solutions are good.

"The film takes off as a typical family drama. The first half of the film is intentionally
slow-paced and shows to the audience the lighter moments in the family of Georgekutty. This
half combines the elements of drama and comedy genres. The audience gets completely absorbed
in the twist of events that begin to unfold from the end of the first half. The second half is more
like a thriller and is about how the family, despite the vengeful villainy of a corrupt cop, stands
its ground even as the law takes its course."A miser even in his limited dreams, he has a very
supportive family including his wife Rani (Meena) and his daughters Anju(Ansiba) and Anu
(Esther). They though make fun of his tight fisted ways, they are happy that Georgekutty is able
to meet their modest demands.

Much of the former half is dedicated to tell about the closeness of the family and the deep
ties that they share within. But as Varun (Roshan), an intruder walks abruptly into their lives;
they are left to be tested for their power of togetherness.

Though the movie starts in a slower pace with few attempts on double meaning wits that
doesn't deliver, it soon falls on track on the latter half. Much of the moments here leave you with
real surprise as the fine scripts and execution from JeethuJoseph makes way for spell

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boundingmovie that leaves you engrossed all the way from a simple plot. The suspense element
and the climax is finely executed which makes everyone leave the seat with applause.

Impressive performances from Mohanlal is another highlight of the movie The most
versatile actor of our times use the best of the subtle ways to weave multiple dimensions to a
character which makes it the best from Mohanlal after `Bhramaram'. In an earthy role that works
well for him, the actor excels in all the shades and priceless expressions provided.
KalabhavanShajon excels as a corrupt police officer which may be called best in his career till
date while Esther andAnsibaprove that they are powerhouse of talents. Meena,
Siddhique and others also deliver bravura support to the lead man.

SujithVasudev `s cinematography is fine and appropriate in creating the thriller mood of

the film. The musical scores and two songs by Anil Johnson and Vinu Thomas are also
refreshing, which builds the tempo.

In the final analysis, this `Drishyam' is undoubtedly cladded with exceptional story
telling combined with bravura performances. The director Jeethu Joseph is receiving a standing
ovation for his fine execution of a well written material from a very simple plot. An undoubtedly
exceptional film as far the content is concerned, the movie is a must watch for all the audiences
of family and thriller movies.

The psychological cat-and-mouse game that ensues between Georgekutty and the lady
IPS officer GeethaPrabhakaran (AshaSarath) has several moments that thriller buffs will dig into
with delight. What is appreciable however is the adversary's acceptance of defeat, and the
eventual respect that the two develop for each other.
Drishyam 2: The Resumption is the continuation of the first part. The story begins with
the story of the eyewitness; Jose who kills his brother in law, who tries to escape from the police
officers tries to take a refuge at the construction where Georgekutty dumps VarunPrabhakar’s
dead body. Jose quite accidently witnessed Georgekutty who returns back with a spade in his
hand. Soon jose was caught by the cops and he didn’t knew the news of Georgekutty and his
family.in the second part of Drishyam, Georgekutty and his family has developed so much and
now he is a business man with a multiplex theatre and cable TV connection agency. Many of the
villagers felt jealousy on him but he never minds it. A small portion of Georgekutty’s land was

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sold and was owned by Saritha and Sabu who became their neighbours. Rani was much attached
to Saritha and she shares her sorrows to Saritha, as Georgekutty often travels to Kochi for
meeting Vinayachandran, a well-known screenplay writer. Georgekutty was planning to produce
a film, but Rani was against the idea, but Georgekutty never moved back from his plan.
The local police, having received much humiliation due to their inability to solve Varun's
case, decide to reinvestigate the case, under the supervision of Kerala East IG Thomas Bastin
IPS, who is a junior and friend of GeethaPrabhakar. Meanwhile, Georgekutty encounters
Prabhakar in his theater. Prabakar begs him to disclose the location of Varun's body so that he
can collect his skeleton to perform funeral rites, but to no avail.Anu(Georgekutty’s younger
daughter) was studying in st.joseph’s school and her classmate was actually trying to help the
police officer to investigate Varun’s murder case and he was successful to an extent. One night,
Rani conveys to Saritha of her fears of getting arrested and inadvertently blurts the fact that
Georgekutty had indeed moved Varun's body. Unbeknownst to her and the family, Saritha and
Sabu are actually undercover cops who are really married, assigned by Bastin in an attempt to
discover the location of Varun's body.
Meanwhile Jose is released from the jail and he went to meet his wife, but she was not
ready to accept him. Jose decides to make some money to restart their life. In between this he
came to know about the details of Georgekutty’s case and the local people discussion of the
reward. This really made him impressed; he decides to share the information to the police
officers, for that he demanded prize money of 5 lakhs. Though the cops were reluctant at the
beginning later they decides to handover the money. GeethaPrabhakar and her husband returns
from abroad. They give him the money and ask for the hint. Jose shows them the spot where
Varun’s body was actually buried by Georgekutty. Police collected the skeleton of Varun from
the police station.Georgekutty learns these events through surveillance cameras. He and his
family are then apprehended and questioned by the police, under court orders.
Inbetween the interrogation Anju has another epilepticfit and she was moved to the
hospital. Georgekutty decides to surrender infront of the police officers and he narrates a
fabricated story. He promises to face the consequences for the sake of his family. Here he claims
he has preserved evidence such as Varun's clothing, which naturally will save rest of his family
in court. Bastin convinces Geetha to initially trap Georgekutty, collect evidences and later charge

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his wife and Anju for hiding evidence. After the family is let go for the day, they muse about
their supposedly bleak future.
Writer Vinayachandran enters the scene and informed Geetha and Bastin about
Georgekutty’s film and his story. Georgekutty has took the thread for his film from his life and
he has published the same in a book named ‘Drishyam’ an year before under the name of
Vinayachandran for copyright. This has actually amused them, they soon realized the play of
Georgekutty. After the first arrest, Georgekutty was eagerly waiting for the police officers to dig
the truth. He was sure that oneday the truth will definitely come out. So he made his own plans
to counterattack the steps of the cops. He collected the details of DNA process and the court
proceedings from Vinayachandran with the help of a senior police officer. Soon he befriends the
security guard of the forensic lab of the local medical institution where the forensic tests of the
discovered skeleton would be conducted. Apart from this Georgekutty has also collected the
skeleton of another boy of same age and height of VarunPrabhakar. So that he decides to replace
the skeleton of Varun with the other one. Once police officers dig out the original skeleton of
VarunPrabhakar, Georgekutty has work out his plan and he became successful. Everyone
including his advocate was shocked after seeing the DNA report of Varun’s skeleton showing
that it’s not the actual one. Thus Georgekutty was escaped from the case. He had also kept his
word by giving the bone and ashes of Varun, discreetly handed over to Geetha and Prabhakar,
who complete the last rites of Varun in a river.Bastin comes there and asks them to stop
following Georgekutty as they can’t defeat him. Because, Georgekutty has kept a vow to protect
his family and nothing can drag him back. They are thinking that they are following Georgekutty
but it was Georgekutty who secretly follows them and Bastin tells them that Gerogekutty would
have already started planning for the next attempt of Kerala Police. He tells that Georgekutty's
vigilant life itself is a great punishment; he must live the rest of his life with constant
supervision, caution and guilt.
The four levels of problem solving are employed in both Drishyam 1 & 2. Whatever the
issue is the protagonist is very confident to face the issue and he devised his own ways to solve
the problem and moves on. The director has employed a very successful plot as well as the way
of narration has helped to provide a suspense till the last moment.

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WorkCited:
Primary source:

Drishyam,Jeethu Joseph, Aashirvad Cinemas, 2013.

Drishyam 2, Jeethu Joseph, Aashirvad Cinemas,2021.

Secondary sources:

Acker, Ally. Reel Women: Pioneers of the Cinema. New York: Continuum, 2001.

Babu,N.M“ Introducing Film Studies”, Thankachan, Reeja, M.R, Kumar,Binil, Mainspring

Publishers,Chennai,2015.

Drishyam.(2017). Drishyam (film 2015). Retrieved on February 2019 from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drishyam_(2015_film)

Fortino, R. Catalina. “Critical Thinking and Problem Solving for the 21st Century Learner”.

New York: Nysut A Union of Professional, 2015.

Khotari, C. R. Research Methodology Methods and Techniques,New Age International

Publisher, 1990.

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