With a quick witted 14-year-old girl and a friendly green-eyed ghost at its centre, Hariharan’s Ennu Swantham Janakikutty had come as a breath of fresh air to the Malayali film audience of 1998. The film was also notably shouldered by two women actors, Jomol and Chanchal, who would go on to make an endearing impression in Malayali hearts for years to come. It hence served as no surprise that when a recent photo of Janakikutty (Jomol) and her beloved ghost friend Kunjathol (Chanchal) surfaced on social media, Malayalis let out a collective sigh, basking in nostalgia.
“This was the only ghost I ever fell in love with,” a fan wrote under the picture, while another waxed poetic about Chanchal’s ever-sparkling eyes. “It feels like not a day has passed since we met young Janakikutty and her beloved Kunjathol,” said another netizen. Many reminisced about a kind of cinema that seems to have been lost, one that was rooted in Kerala’s age-old folk tales and lores of the yore. Some mourned the loss of an era in which Malayalam cinema was defined by the works of literary greats such as MT Vasudevan Nair. Ennu Swantham Janakikutty, which was scripted by MT himself, was adapted to screen from a short story of his own titled Cheriya Cheriya Bhookampangal (Little, Little Earthquakes).
Twenty-five years later, the film continues to be remembered for its deeply layered exploration of Janakikutty’s young adolescent mind, the narrative interwoven with elements of myths and the supernatural. Jomol won the Kerala State Film Award for best actress for her role, in addition to a special jury mention at the National Film Awards. Chanchal too immediately grabbed attention, her green eyes — a rarity among the Malayali population — even making headlines.
Though Jomol appeared as either the lead or in prominent roles in several other films such as Niram, Punjabi House, Mayilpeelikkaavu, and Thillana Thillana, Chanchal only acted in a handful of films after the Hariharan film. However, both the actors have generally been keeping away from the limelight for a while, which makes this rare glimpse even more special to their fans.