Abstract
This study examines the representation of institutional medical authority and gendered control in the Malayalam films Manichithrathazhu and Athiran. Through a critical reading of narrative structure, characterisation, and cinematic form, the paper investigates how these films construct the female subject as a site of interpretation, surveillance, and regulation. In Manichithrathazhu, the conflict between folklore and scientific knowledge culminates in the triumph of male interpretative authority, which reframes female anger and historical trauma as a clinical disorder. The resolution of the film restores patriarchal stability by silencing the female voices, converting their experiences into a case to be solved rather than a history to be acknowledged. In contrast, Athiran foregrounds the institutional mechanisms of confinement, misdiagnosis, and coercion. It reveals how diagnostic categories are manipulated to justify the incarceration and erasure of women whose behaviour threatens established norms. By analysing narrative strategies, visual symbolism, and institutional settings, the study argues that both films divulge the gendered foundations of medical interpretation and expose how structures of authority regulate female subjectivity under the guise of treatment and care.
Keywords: Malayalam cinema, institutional power, psychiatry, female subjectivity
Loading...
Reload document 
Open in new tab