Word of South

Malayalam cinema is known for producing some of India's most progressive movies. MEERA GANAPATHI delves deeper to find the melting pot of cultures that allow these films to cook to perfection.

- 

In Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, 2025’s sleeper hit from Kerala, Neeli, the protagonist, doesn’t fight like the superhero she is. Instead, she fights like a woman. Sure, there’s power, special effects and just the right amount of rage, but Neeli only fights when her patience is tested, only when there is no answer other than violence. She isn’t on a quest for revenge. She delivers justice because there’s no other way. A movie that gave India its first female superhero, Lokah felt relatable not for its obvious feminism but for underlining a survival instinct particular to Indian women: stay unnoticed if you’d like to stay unbothered.

The film is inspired by a Malayalam folktale about a seductive, vengeful yakshi in a white sari, with Neeli being reinterpreted for the screen as a moody, crop top-wearing vampire who moonlights as a barista and protects the vulnerable. There are allusions to caste and oppression in her origin story, but these details are neither forced nor heavy-handed; they’re introduced like ice cubes in a glass of water. Although it isn’t perfect by any measure, Lokah is yet another Malayalam movie in the recent past that has drawn attention to the region’s talent for making memorable cinema.

While Bollywood continues to bet heavily on mega stars, special effects and giant budgets to generate a hit, movies from Kerala draw from the ordinary to earn box-office accolades. In Rahul Sadasivan’s critically acclaimed Diés Iraé (2025), innocuous hair clips and soft blankets become catalysts for horror. Mohanlal-starrer Thudarum (2025) effectively enlists a simple black Ambassador car to drive home the widely prevalent issue of honour killing. Even the superhero in