FACES OF FEAR

What happens when humans concentrate their deepest fears, especially the fear of death, into objects meant to protect them?

- SONU M KOTHARI

YOU see them while entering a house, on roads, on rooftops, on walls in public spaces, in vehicles, in temples, in factories, at construction sites, and several other places, but walk past it as if unnoticed.

They sometimes have a perfectly round face, other times an out-of-proportion figure in yellow, black, white, and red, with big, wide, and bold eyes, tongue as long and bright as a warning sign in red, sharp, edgy fangs, moustache curled in the ends, and ears huge as open palms warding off harm.

You probably might have guessed the figure. It is an integral part of all cultures, not only in Tamil Nadu and India, but across the globe. In Chinese and Indonesian culture, these forms appear as murals; closer home, in Madurai, Sivakasi, Aarani, and beyond, drishti bommais are inspired from human faces, and the features resemble — bulbous nose, playful eyes, plumped lips, and so on.

Believed to distract, absorb, and neutralise negative energies, this everyday practice of warding off evil using drishti dolls gained attention from Indicus Paints (VNC Group). They produced and premiered a documentary on drishti bommais on their official YouTube channel (@IndicusPaints), directed and written by Saravana Siddharth. He researched for six months followed by extensive field exploration to prepare the proposal.

Saravana says, “When I started this project, I wanted to make a 40-minute-long documentary as it [drishti bommai] isa vast subject. It is an ancient as well as a folklore belief globally.” He began shooting this documentary in August 2023 with a team of DOP R Vigneswar, associate director Shiyam Sunder Vel, and assistant director Harikrishnan.

While the official release from the company, titled ‘Drishti Bommai: Reviving the Tradition’, was released on December 11, 2025, CE got exclusive access to the director’s cut, which is to be released soon under the title ‘Kollikannu: The Envious Gaze.’