Half an hour into Bramayugam, the idea of a black hole crops up in one’s mind. The eerie, old ‘mana’ that Kodumon Potty presides over, seems to be welcoming of everyone who passes through that region, but no one who has ever gone in has emerged out... much like in a black hole. Even Potty says he has not seen the outside world in quite a long time; it is doubtful whether he ever has, considering the story that reveals his true identity.
Time almost comes to a standstill here, much like near a black hole, with the occupants losing all sense of the days or years that they have spent inside. Even in the game of dice that the Potty (Mammootty) challenges the latest entrant (Arjun Ashokan) to, it is time that he is forced to gamble with. Losing the game would mean the person would spend his entire lifetime in the ‘mana’. It is into this timeless world that Rahul Sadasivan transports us to, almost making us believe that we are also at the mercy of the vile Potty, who does not tolerate those who look him in the eye.
The inventive treatment of horror in Rahul Sadasivan’s previous film Bhoothakalam appears to have fuelled certain expectations from Bramayugam. But this film is designed as a fantasy, mystery tale with a few mildly scary moments thrown in. The appearance of a ‘chaathan’ and an ‘yakshi’ on the screen really does not do much, for what is unseen is more scary, as we learned in Bhoothakalam. Amidst all that, the most chilling element in the whole film happens to be the evil laughter and the deep-throated voice of Potty, portrayed quite convincingly by Mammootty. He treats the role quite unlike any that he has played till date, although one gets a faint sense of the ghost of Bhaskara Pattelar from Vidheyan (1994) at some points.
