Malayalam Movie Round-Up P1: Aattam & Bramayugam

In this episode, Dhruv and Amartya welcome Devi (@film.trance) back to talk about two Malayalam movies recently released on OTT: Anand Ekarshi's morally complex drama/thriller "Aattam" (on Amazon Prime Video) and Rahul Sadasivan's folk horror film "Bramayugam" (on Sony Liv).
Both films serve up narratives and, especially, aesthetic styles largely underexplored by contemporary Indian cinema. Reference points range from international-Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi and A24's elevated horror films-to local-legendary Malayalam filmmaker K.C. George and Rahi Anil Barve's "Tumbbad." But these films feel wholly original, either wanting to tackle thorny subject matters in contemporary society in thorny ways ("Aattam") or creating a new Old world whose order -- even in the wilderness -- eerily resembles that of our reality ("Bramayugam").
Listen to the full, spoiler-filled episode to know what we thought about each of these movies and how their superior quality makes Dhruv and Amartya want to tear their hearts out when they see contemporary B'wood movies.
TIMECODES
INTRODUCTION - [00:00 - 03:40]
"AATTAM" - [03:40 - 01:11:10]
"BRAMAYUGAM" - [01:11:10 - 02:21:00]
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