Heeeyyy. Here I am to womansplain some more folklore in Lokah. Big thanks to @introvert-corner for being my enabler in this.
A bit of a reminder, many of these folkloric creatures are described by me using Western terms like vampires and goblins, but the truth is, these guys are a whole different thing, where goblins or vampires are the closest things to describe them.
Might as well start off with Chathan today:
They are basically trickster, shape-shifting goblins of sorts. Usually harmless, they are mischievous beings of sorts that grant wishes and desires upon proper offerings being made.
Lokah's Chathan is an interesting case, where aspects of his original lore are incorporated along with a bit more modern Puck or Loki-like characteristics.
Original lore in the movies includes Chathan saying that he is a god, which is true given that he is the divine son of Shiva and Parvathi. Also, while the Chathan may attack and harm his victims, he doesn't kill them; he is more of a vicious prankster. (He never goes on to kill the police officers, only mildly fucks them up).
The movie differs in the fact that Chathan, or Kuttichathan (Kutti-child) as he is more informally known in Kerala, is depicted as a pot-bellied young boy, not a grown-ass man sporting abs.
They are seen as benevolent by their worshippers, holding pujas and prayers specifically for boons, but also held in a negative light by non-believers, often associated with curses and black magic by them.
I think Lokah might have used Vishnumaya Chathan as a source material, but I am not a Hindu and I'm not very sure on the minutiae of the lore. This is in reference to the story that there are 316-390 different Chathans, all of them siblings with various aspects and stories associated with each one of them. They all vary in benevolence, with some of them being more malevolent than others. I think this was teased in the post-credit scene.
The movie clearly wanted him to be a personable Loki-esque character, since they cast Tovino Thomas of all people (the only guy to have acted as 3 different superheroes in Mollywood as of now), but a more lore-accurate version of the physique might be found in the movies My Dear Kuttichathan (1984) and Bhramayugam (2024). The former has a mischievous, child-like, and heroic version, while the latter puts emphasis on his darker and manipulative side. Seriously, both are amazing watches, especially from a technical POV. My Dear Kuttichathan is the first 3-D movie in Asia, while Bhramayugam was completely monochrome and has an amazing analysis of the corruption of human nature upon the descent of power.
Pls don't hesitate to ask any more questions!
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