Athma (film)

Athma (transl. Soul) is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language supernatural thriller film directed by Pratap Pothen. The film stars Ramki, Rahman, Nassar, Gautami and Kasthuri. It is based on the book The Miracle by Irving Wallace.^[1] The film was released on 9 July 1993.^[2]

Raghunandan "Raghu", an atheist archaeologist, and his theist father, the spiritual guru Athmaram Swamigal, travel to an isolated village near Pothigai hills to decipher a rock‑cut inscription in the Nagakali Amman temple along with photographer Shiva. While examining the temple, they learn that it was built by the saint Nagalinga Siddhar and that the prime deity is a cobra snake. Legend holds that anyone who approaches without pure intent is punished. As Athmaram Swamigal worships the deity, he suddenly faints, and his mind remains constantly disturbed.

The current heir of the demon‑worshippers—known as Nambiyatri—has been tasked with destroying the soul that killed his forefathers, before it attains immortality ahead of the upcoming full‑moon day; otherwise, the entire line of demon worshippers will be wiped out. The demon fire reveals that the holy soul resides within Athmaram Swamigal, and Nambiyatri vows to kill him. The next morning, Athmaram Swamigal disappears, and a cobra is found in his room. Raghu suspects the strange noise he heard the night before. A police dog follows the scent to a ruined bungalow belonging to Nambiyatri. Priest Esakkimuthu confirms hearing a similar, eerie female voice coming from that bungalow.

Athmaram Swamigal's yellow towel is discovered hanging near the grave of Nagalinga Siddhar, which Esakkimuthu interprets as a sign that a miracle is about to occur. Guhai Amma, the elderly priest, summons Raghu and informs him that, according to the words of the saint Nagalinga Siddhar, the box containing the prophecy is opened. The manuscript says that on the upcoming Pournami—the full‑moon night—the Nagakali Amman temple will become extraordinarily powerful and that a deity will appear in the eyes of one of its devotees. It also claims that anyone who immerses themselves in the waterfall near the temple before the Pournami will be cured of any disease. Raghu does not believe the prophecy and takes the manuscript to his colleague Padma to test its authenticity. Padma confirms that the paper is about 150 years old. Raghu has no interest in publicising the prophecy, but she contacts her journalist friend Divya—a blind woman who lost her sight in a recent cracker accident—to publish the story in newspapers.

Padma also wants to take her lover, the famous singer Naveen, who is in the final stages of cancer, to the temple for a divine cure. Divya is initially reluctant, but Padma persuades her by promising that the temple's waters might restore Divya's vision. Naveen's mother, a senior doctor, refuses to let him go as she has scheduled surgery for him. To bypass this, Padma secretly marries Naveen and then convinces his mother to allow the pilgrimage. Divya asks Raghu for the manuscript so she can publish it, but Raghu refuses at first, calling it superstition. Hoping that the publicity will help locate his missing father, Raghu agrees to let Divya publish the text.

Soon, an atheist terrorist group led by Saravanan tries to destroy the temple, convinced that the shrine is being used to profit from innocent people. Saravanan has a tragic past tied to terrorism: his sister and brother‑in‑law—a TNHRCE employee who were devout believers—were killed by the temple chief because the brother‑in‑law refused to stay silent about the chief's lootings. To blast the temple, they need about ₹300,000 (equivalent to ₹2,171,988 in 2023), and Nambiyatri funds the terrorist group for the attack. One terrorist, Anil, dies in a road accident, and his diary falls into Commissioner Hari's hands. Divya's brother, Hari, is assigned to stop the blast planned at the Nagakali Amman temple. Divya convinces Hari to let her accompany him, hoping the pilgrimage will restore her sight, and he agrees.

A few days before God's arrival, devotees begin flooding the temple to witness the event. Saravanan rents a lodge room and escapes just as Hari and the police arrive, thanks to the lodge boy Meiyappan, whom Hari keeps as an aide to identify the terrorist. Raghu hears a noise and chases it to the dilapidated bungalow believed to be haunted. There, he spots his father's bracelet and blood stains and informs Hari. When Hari returns to the spot, the stains are gone, and he yells at Raghu for giving false information. Suspecting that Guhai Amma knows something about his missing father, Raghu confronts her. Guhai Amma reveals that the man Raghu thought was his father is not his biological father but an adopted one. In the past, she rescued the toddler Raghu from the temple and immediately handed the baby over to Athmaram Swamigal, who had no interest in marriage and raised Raghu as his own son.

Raghu conveys the car‑registration number to Shiva so he can investigate a possible link to his father's disappearance. Shiva fetches the address, sees Athmaram Swamigal's yellow towel there, but before he can tell Raghu, he is burned to death. Divya's guide, Erimalai, departs, and she walks toward the river, but Saravanan rescues her. Saravanan happens to be Divya's college lover; now a terrorist, he hides his identity by changing his voice and tells Divya that he is Vignesh. He also claims he lost a leg in an accident and has come to the temple hoping for a divine cure. Hari allows Saravanan to stay at his place, and Saravanan prepares bombs, hiding them in his walking stick. Seeing Divya's love for him, Saravanan tells her that "Saravanan" is dead and that he is merely Vignesh, urging her to move on, but she refuses and even plans to kill herself. Moved by her plight, Saravanan finally reveals his true identity, and they resume their relationship.

With only three days left until Pournami, the terrorists arrive in the village and are shocked to see Saravanan close to Commissioner Hari's sister, Divya. They kill Meiyappan because he is a police informer who has witnessed Saravanan, and they demand that Saravanan kill Divya. Uma, whom Raghu once saw in the haunted bungalow, takes him to Guhai Amma. Raghu, now aware of Shiva's death and that terrorists have infiltrated the village, seeks Guhai Amma's help, having transformed into a theist. Guhai Amma reveals the past, where in the previous birth, Raghu's father, Athmaram Swamigal, is none other than the saint Nagalinga Siddhar. The demon worshippers, belonging to the Nambiyatri family, tortured the villagers for money and killed them too. Nagalinga Siddhar's visit and poojas to Nagakali Amman made the satanic Nambiyatri turn powerless. To learn the sacred Bījamantra and make him powerless, Nambiyatri sent his sister Mohini to him. Mohini lusts after Siddhar and begs him to live with her, but Nagalinga Siddhar refuses.

Once Nagalinga Siddhar rescues Mohini while she attempts to commit suicide and is drawn by her beauty, the saint shares an intimate life with Mohini. Soon, he regrets it, but Mohini kills herself, swearing to live with Nagalinga Siddhar in her next birth. Seeing Mohini's death, Nambiyatri curses that Nagalinga Siddhar's soul roams the world without peace, and he too dies. In the present birth, Athmaram Swamigal, upon visiting the temple, regains his previous‑birth memories and the sacred Bījamantra. So Nambiyatri and Mohini kidnapped Athmaram Swamigal to learn about the mantra and to stop the sacred soul from entering immortality. Raghu also learns that Guhai Amma sent Uma to the haunted bungalow to spill holy water, and she is not a demon, as Raghu mistakenly thought. Uma confesses that Raghu is a god‑fixed husband for her. Also, Guhai Amma tasks Raghu to bring his father to the temple before Pournami ends. While moving back to the cave, Nambiyatri's black magic kills Guhai Amma.

With two days left until Pournami, Hari receives orders to report to Madras immediately. Meanwhile, they discover Meiyappan's corpse in the forest. The next morning, Uma regains consciousness and rescues Raghu. Through Esakkimuthu, Saravanan learns that the deity will appear at the seventh bell of the celebrations. Divya confesses that she loves Saravanan, and Hari begins to suspect him because he had earlier introduced himself as Vignesh. In Madras, Hari investigates Saravanan's past and learns about his sister, who became mentally ill after the tragedy, and that Saravanan is feigning a limp and pretending to seek a divine cure at the temple.

The long‑awaited Pournami arrives. Raghu awakens from his faint. Raghu and Uma head for the dilapidated bungalow where Raghu's father may be held. They cross a dangerous waterfall; Uma slips and falls into the river, but Raghu continues, enters the bungalow, and begins to fight Nambiyatri, Mohini and their henchmen, but they knock him unconscious. To obtain the mantra, Mohini whips Athmaram Swamigal and tries to seduce him. Raghu regains consciousness, attacks Mohini and Nambiyatri brutally, and rescues his father. Saravanan reveals to Durga that he is the terrorist whom Hari is trying to capture. He tells her to leave the village for her safety, but she refuses. Vikas, a member of the terrorist gang, remains determined to kill Divya. Saravanan attacks Vikas before he can harm Divya; in the struggle, Vikas falls off a cliff and dies.

Still intent on destroying the temple, Saravanan pretends to be a devotee, hiding bombs in his walking stick. Raghu rescues his father, and they rush to the temple. The blind Divya also walks toward the temple, hearing the bell, to persuade Saravanan, and Hari, now aware that Saravanan is the terrorist, rushes to stop the blast. Padma prays wholeheartedly for her husband Naveen's recovery. Saravanan places the bomb sticks in the garbhagriha snake nest, but the holy cobra bites him. Hari announces the planned bomb blast and orders the devotees to vacate the temple. Almost all the devotees flee, except Padma and Naveen, who remain deep in meditation near the shrine. Hari threatens Saravanan to deactivate the bomb, or he will kill his sister. Though intoxicated by the snake bite, Saravanan rushes to remove the bomb, but the device detonates, killing him. The bright blast restores Divya's sight miraculously.

Raghu's father, with Raghu's help, reaches the deity and, as he dies before the divine presence, his soul attains immortality according to the prophecy, permanently weakening the demonic Nambiyatri. Divya mourns Saravanan's loss. Uma, whom Raghu thought had drowned in the river, emerges alive and reunites with him. Finally, a radiant light appears before Padma, curing Naveen's cancer.

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja (except "Ninaikkindra Paadhaiyil"), with lyrics written by Vaali.^[3][4]

Malini Mannath of The Indian Express wrote, "Aathma is a slick presentation from Prathap and the main story has been efficiently handled. But he could have avoided slipping into the formula pattern now and then".^[5] K. Vijiyan of New Straits Times said, "It takes courage to attempt a movie like this, and Prathap's story grabs your attention".^[1]

• Athma at IMDb