Chevittorma (The Soul Whisperer), a Malayalam-language independent feature directed by Leo Thaddeus and starring Dileesh Pothan and Pauly Valsan, will have its world premiere at the 31st Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.
The film has been selected for the festival's 'A Window on Asian Cinema' section, a non-competitive programme aimed to showcase new and notable works by Asian filmmakers. This year, the festival runs from October 6 to 15 at the Busan Cinema Center.
The feature, running for a total of 93 minutes, is set in the hills of Kerala and is described as 'a meditative drama' about death, memory, faith and the possibility of redemption. The film follows Theresia, a woman known for sitting beside the dying and whispering prayers believed to ease the passage of the soul. She is summoned to the ancestral home of Varkichan, a powerful landlord who falls unconscious after a sudden illness. As the family gathers and awaits his passing, it does not arrive easily, resulting in the prolonged vigil unearthing old tensions, buried memories and unresolved histories.
The Soul Whisperer, written and directed by Leo Thaddeus, stars Pauly Valsan as Theresia, Dileesh Pothan as Varkichan, and also features Jeo Baby, among others. Valsan, one of the industry's most renowned character actors and a Kerala State Film Award winner, takes on her first lead role with this feature. Music for the film is composed by Iranian composer Milad Movahedi, known for his work on Critical Zone, who composed the score during a period of conflict in Iran, bringing an additional layer of contemporary international experience to the film’s soundscape.
The Soul Whisperer marks director Leo Thaddeus' transition to independent cinema. The film is produced by Stephen Zacharias, Aditya Grover and Harsh Agarwal, who have previously produced Nirvana Inn and Rapture, along with Lokan Raveendran, Jacob Zacharias and Sajan Balan.
The film’s technical team includes cinematographer Swaroop Shanker, Rob Lang on colour grading, production design by Joseph Nellickal, who has worked on films like Bheeshma Parvam, and make-up artist Ronex Xavier who has previously worked on films including Kantara, Manjummel Boys and Kumbalangi Nights.
This feature also marks an international collaboration, with French-based filmmaker and editor Carlo Francisco Manatad editing the film. Manatad has edited Tiger Stripes, the film that won the Grand Prize at Cannes Critics’ Week, with Soul Whisperer marking his first Indian feature.
Dileesh Pothan, an actor, director and producer himself, opened up about what drew him to the project and the character of Varkichan. "Varkichan is a character who exists in a space between life and death, and much of what he carries is unspoken. What drew me to the film was Leo’s sensitivity in approaching the story and his willingness to let silence, stillness and performance speak for themselves."
About the film being selected for a world premiere at Busan, Pothan spoke about what such opportunities provide for independent Malayalam cinema. "For an independent Malayalam film like this, to find a home at such an important festival is both an honour and an encouragement.”
Speaking on what inspired the story of his first independent feature, Leo Thaddeus said, "The Soul Whisperer is a film about waiting — waiting for death, waiting for forgiveness, and waiting for the past to reveal itself. In many parts of Kerala, death is not only a private moment but also a ritual shared by the family and the community. I was interested in exploring what happens when this ritual is interrupted, when death does not come as expected."
He addded, "The film also draws from the Christian rituals and cultural traditions of Kerala, where prayer, faith and guilt often exist side by side. For me, Soul Whisperer is not only about death, but about the possibility of redemption that can appear even in the final moments of life.”