It is unfortunate that this remarkable film is never recalled by many while listing major works of Indian cinema. To me, it is India's answer to Bergman's "Winter Light." M T Vasudevan Nair, like Bergman, wrote and directed a film on a religious man questioning God/the Hindu deity. In one film, the individual decides to take his life after spitting blood at what he once revered, in the other he continues his vocation with a questionable spirit of renewed faith. In both films, the temples/churches are slowly being abandoned by the religious followers. In both films, the reason for the low attendance is related to external forces, the effect of WWII on the Bergman characters with the looming dangers of atomic bombs and in Vasudevan Nair's film the effect of unemployment for both educated and the uneducated.
Poverty and realism are underscored in Nirmlayam that leads to the tragic end sequence. Nirmalyam is essentially built on a fine story written by the film's director, where the rich in the villages are more concerned about the health of their privately owned elephant rather than the plight of the the oracle and others associated with the temple. (The oracle dances to the drums, played with frenetic energy, in front of the deity, holding a holy sword until he goes into a trance and communicates the mood of the deity to the believers.) While the rich do not care about the caretakers of the temple, the daughter of the oracle who has mere plain boiled rice to live on, shares that humble morsel with a mentally challenged person. Vasudevan Nair's message is that the poor give more alms than the rich to the deserving.
The film also belongs to the late actor P J Antony who took retirement as a naval officer to write and act in plays/theater and, eventually, in films. His performance in this film won him the India's National Award for best actor in 1973.
"Nirmalayam" won the top national honors beating works of Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Mani Kaul, and Girish Karnad but unfortunately never made the international marquee mainly because of the subject ("Winter Light" also never won awards, though it was Bergman's personal favorite until he made "Fanny and Alexander"). It deserved better marketing as its content is universal in a wider sense of secular religious sensibilities.
The film is gripping because of its endearing performance (theatrical realism that a majority of Asian audiences prefer in contrast to sophisticated subdued realism of the Bergman players). Yet, the theatrical performance was not over the top and the late PJ Anthony won the acclaim in Kerala more than elsewhere in India for a performance that has gradually been forgotten. What are most significant are the ability of Antony to play his role with a twenty year difference, in frequent flashbacks, and the cinematography of Ramachandra Babu, in a temple interiors (not a set)
.
The film is equally remarkable for its screenplay (with an unforgettable ending), its use of sound and the art direction. It was a fine debut for a filmmaker but unfortunately this achievement has been eclipsed by better marketing of other Indian filmmakers.
