Manjummel Boys (2024) is based on a real-life incident, that took place at the infamous Devil’s Kitchen / Guna Caves located in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India. It is a survival thriller.
The real-life incident on which the movie is based :
In the year 2006, a group of friends from Manjummel, a small village in Kerala, went on a trip to Kodaikanal. Once there, they visited the notorious Devil’s Kitchen (caves) that was featured in Kamal Hassans’ cult classic movie “Guna”. Post Guna’s release in 1991, the caves came to be known as Guna caves.
The Devil’s Kitchen, a.k.a Guna Caves, aptly named for its dangerous crevasses has devoured many ardent and unsuspecting movie fans into its deep and seemingly bottomless crevasses. The crevasses are so deep and complicated that no one has been able to retrieve the bodies of those who lost their life inside them. This led to the authorities erecting a barrier along the valley and closing access to the caves. This doesn’t help much as some tourists do manage to pass the barrier for mere adrenaline rush and out of curiosity.
As any thrill seeker would, the group of boys crossed over the safety fence erected at the edge of the viewpoint. At that time the boys had no idea that with this action, they were creating a script for a blockbuster movie, which would be released 18 years later and that it would take the Malayalam movie industry’s fan base to the next level.
The movie Manjummel Boys follows the unfortunate incident that befalls a group of boys on their trip to the picturesque hill station Kodaikanal. While exploring the restricted area of the Guna caves, one of the boys, Subhash (Sreenath Bhasi) falls into one of its infamous crevasses. His friends’ efforts to retrieve their friend from the crevasse and how they succeed form the rest of the story.
The film is released under the survival thriller genre but in reality, it is more of an emotion-packed experience. It showcases the power of human bond, friendship, love and unity.
The movie captures the free-spirited personality of the boys which soon turns into regret and misery.
The anguish that the rest of the boys face after they lose their friend to the crevasse is saddening. For instance, they run to the authorities only to be beaten up and blamed for crossing a restricted area. The locals add to their woes by saying that not a single soul has been retrieved dead or alive after falling into the chasm.
The maker has carefully steered the plot in a way that the audience sympathises with the characters despite the boys breaking a dozen laws during their trip.
The film touches upon how indifferent the authorities were and how they justify the indifference chalking it up to previous incidents and stress at work.
The director (Chidambaram.S)spends quite a while to get the audience to comprehend how dangerous the pillar rocks which house the Guna caves are. He has done a great job of portraying them as eerie and creepy.
Usually in survival stories, one sits back and watches the rescuers do their job. As they are usually trained and have proper gear the audience tends to relax once the rescue effort kicks in. But it is quite the opposite in this film.
As we sit through the movie, the audience is fully invested in the characters’ struggle to get to their friend. Finally, when all rescue efforts fail, one of the boys Kuttan/Siju David (Soubin Sahir) offers to go down into the crevasse to save Subhash.
As we have spent the past couple of hours grasping the unforgiving terrain of the caves, one understands how treacherous Kuttan’s suggestion is. Kuttan’s determination to go into the crevasse after his friend without any training or proper gear pulls the audience deeper into the plot as this action is purely based on his love for his friend.
The viewer’s focus instantly shifts from the deep and dark crevasse to the bond of friendship between the boys, which was hidden in plain sight all along.
The movie which is a little over two hours is gripping. The scenes where Subhash is unconscious in real life but roams the caves and the forests in spirit were well-made. The scenes where the boys refuse to leave their friend behind despite the locals telling them that there is no hope show how close-knit they are. The rescue scene is deep-seated and the placement of the evergreen song “Kanmani anbodu kadhalan” from the movie Guna is deep-seated and emotive.
When Kuttan rescues and brings Subhash out of the crevasse, one realises that he has defied all odds. Till today, Subhash remains the only person to have survived after falling into the Devil’s Kitchen crevasse.
The film also features the real Manjummel Boys in the tug-of-war scene at the beginning of the movie as a tribute to them.
Note:
I must admit that when I visited the Guna caves a few years back, the number of barricades around the place made me curious. There was no proper information or pictures of the caves’ interiors anywhere. It was just a place filled with tourists clicking photos beside the barricades and some of them even jumping on the safety grills laid over the crevasses on the ground outside the caves. The caves don’t look dangerous as the crevasses appear as normal small-sized pits.
Being more of a reader than an explorer, I came back home and spent a good amount of time on the internet trying to figure out the interiors of the Guna caves. I wanted to find out why even the locals fear exploring it. Very little footage is available of the landscape of the caves beyond a point. I did come across articles where people recollect their visit before entry was banned. They recall it being pitch dark and eerie. It is human nature to see what is beyond a fence/ restricted area. So I wasn’t surprised to read about the number of incidents of adventure-seeking people exploring into the depths of the cave and never coming back.
After a good deal of You tube searches that came back with just disappointing pixelated old blurry uploads, I decided that the Devil’s Kitchen will forever remain a mystery and gave up on my curiosity.
This movie puts an end to that curiosity as the makers have made an exact replica of the Guna caves in the form of the movie set and transport the audience right into the inner chambers of the Devil’s Kitchen.
No amount of ” Do not cross” and “restricted area” boards get across the warning message to visitors as clearly as this movie does. The cold weather, the rains flooding the caves’ interior chambers, the sloping and slippery rocks, the deep and dark crevasses, the height at which the pillar rocks are perched on the mountains, the bat-infested chambers, monkey skeletons, indifferent authorities and pessimistic locals showcased in this 2-hour movie serve the purpose that no caution sign can.
The movie lures the audience in with the survival thriller genre and captivates us with an emotion-packed experience in the end. Manjummel Boys is definitely a must-watch as it exceeds the viewer’s expectations.
-By Soul Sword-
The Writers Room 