Iruttinte Athmavu

Iruttinte Athmavu
Directed by	P. Bhaskaran
Produced by	P. I. Muhammed Kasim
Written by	M. T. Vasudevan Nair
Starring	Prem Nazir, Sharada, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, P. J. Antony, Ushakumari/Vennira Aadai Nirmala, Kozhikode Shantha Devi, Baby Rajani
Music by	M. S. Baburaj
Cinematography	E. N. Balakrishnan
Edited by	G. Venkitaraman , Das
Production company	Sony Pictures
Distributed by	Bharath Pictures
Release date	2 March 1967 (1967-03-02)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Iruttinte Athmavu (Malayalam: ഇരുട്ടിന്റെ ആത്മാവ്, English: The creature of Darkness) is a 1967 Malayalam film directed by P. Bhaskaran and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair based on his own story with the same name.Location of the film is shoranur. It stars Prem Nazir, Sharada, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, P. J. Antony, Ushakumari, Kozhikode Shantha Devi and Baby Rajani in important roles, and features music by M. S. Baburaj, cinematography by E. N. Balakrishnan and editing by G. Venkitaraman and Das.

The film is about a mentally retarded youth born into a matriarchal family who is forced to live as a mad man in chains and who is misunderstood and ill-treated by everyone except his uncle's daughter. Prem Nazir played the mentally challenged Bhranthan Velayudhan, widely accepted to be an extra ordinary performance and one of the best in his career. Nazir himself rated his role of Velayudhan in Iruttinte Athmavu and as the swashbuckling folk hero Thampan in Padayottam as his best. Also, its script is regarded as one of the finest by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. A major landmark in Malayalam cinema, the film provided Malayalam cinema with a new direction; that of the low-budget film. The film has earned a dedicated cult following. It won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. It missed the Best Film and Best Actor (Prem Nazir) award only narrowly. Despite all the acclaim, the film was a box office failure.

Velayudan's existence poses a problem to all the members of the joint family. Velayudhan is a twenty one - year old man, but he has the intelligence of a child. The head of the joint family thinks Velayudan symbolizes the curse which hangs heavy over the house. To his mother he is source of constant sorrow. His uncle's daughter is his would be bride. He is attached to her. She is very kind to him and refuses to treat him as a mad man. Velayudan triggers problems one after the other and every new lapse help only to put fresh chains. He refuses to feel he is mad. In the end Ammukutty is given away in marriage to an old widower. Velayudhan surrenders himself and yells "Chain me I am mad!"