Shadow Kill

The title of the film Nizhalkuthu (Shadow Kill) refers to a popular play Nizhalkuthu Attakatha, adapted from the Mahabharata, about the inherent unjustness of certain punishments. In the play, the Kauravas force a witch hunter to kill the Pandavas by stabbing their shadows. However, the witch hunter’s wife finds this out and is enraged. To punish her husband by making him feel what, Kunti, the mother of Pandavas must feel, she kills their child in the same way. The film reflects that death penalty is probably in the same vein. We may—like the witch hunter’s wife—be handing out punishments that are equally ridiculous under the false perception that we are doing justice, if not being directly criminal like the witch hunter. Adoor’s usual cinematographer Mankada Ravi Varma filmed half of the project. But he was later replaced by Sunny Joseph, since the former fell ill and was later found to be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.