Is Bougainvillea Based On Lojo Jose’s Ruthinte Lokam
Yes, it is. Bougainvillea, the Malayalam movie helmed by Amal Neerad hit theatres today. The film is a psychological thriller with an ensemble of cast including Jyothirmayi, Kunchacko Boban, and Fahadh Faasil. The film is receiving positive review from critics and fans alike. The film is co-written by Amal Neerad and Lajo Jose, the crime thriller novelist.
Even before the film was released, speculations and theories run wild that it was an adaptation of Jose’s book Ruthinte Lokam (The World of Ruth).
Though the author had denied that it was not an adaptation of the famous book, cine-goers hammers that it indeed is an adaptation of the book.
Ruthinte Lokam is a chilling psychological crime thriller. Ruth, a young lady who suffers from retrograde amnesia. The condition leaves Ruth unable to differentiate between what is real and what is fabricated from her memories. Things get darker when police appears at her doorstep for her involvement in several missing girls.
Ruthinte Lokam deals with the complex mental of the central character. It delves deeper into her struggle in filling up the puzzle thrown by her fragmented memories.
Considered as one of the best crime novels in Malayalam, Ruthinte Lokam has its own fan base and all the anticipation surrounding the movie was worth the wait. In Bougainvillea, Ruthinte Lokam is clearly visible.
As Lajo Jose puts it earlier in an interview, the novel deals with the story of Ruth who suffers from retrograde amnesia and is narrated through the perspectives of Ruth and her husband Ronald.
Bougainvillea appears to have similar characters. Jyothirmayi plays Reethu, the one with retrograde amnesia. Often caused by trauma or brain injury, the condition primarily affects recent memories, though older ones may remain intact. Recovery varies, with memories sometimes returning gradually over time and in the movie, skill fully crafted narrative brings the changes to her character. And interestingly, in the second half the movie is mostly about Royce, Reethu’s husband, and played by Kunchacko Boban.
As with Ruthinte Lokam, the story unfolds around Reethu’s complex world, her husband Royce’s dark, ambiguous life, and the mysteries surrounding their lives.
