‘The real horror people confront in society are social biases': Megha Ramaswamy on Lalanna's Song

Indian Express

14-06-2025

Writer-director Megha Ramaswamy's latest film Lalanna's Song, currently streaming on MUBI, is an exploration of deeply-entrenched social biases as well as the cyclical nature of patriarchal conditioning. The Malayalam-language film follows two young mothers – Shoby (Parvathy Thiruvothu) and Miriam (Rima Kallingal) – on what seems to be a routine day as they encounter everyday prejudice and sexism. Later that day, they come across a mysterious 12-year-old, Lalanna (Nakshatra Indrajit), who they coerce into singing even though she warns that her singing may bring death with it. By doing so, Shoby and Miriam reveal their own biases in spite of being victims of such a mindset themselves.
In this interview, Ramaswamy talks about using horror as a cinematic tool in Lalanna's Song (produced by Newton Cinema) and her endeavour to be authentic to the female experience. Excerpts:
Why did you choose to lean on horror to talk about social biases?
We can agree that the real horror people confront in any society are social biases. Choosing it as a genre to showcase this particular female experience helped me find layers in its writing that I couldn't have otherwise. Horror helps exaggerate and nuance particular occurrences to highlight and commit to as horror. Plus, the visual and narrative style really helped me find the film's language. In Lalannas Song – overwhelmed by the demands of motherhood and shaken by an incident of racial profiling they experience on the way – Shoby and Miriam are unprepared to meet Lalanna, a precocious preteen girl who suavely pushes their buttons. Seeming to possess all the promise and confidence the two women have lost, Lalanna unleashes within them a merciless instinct to set her straight. The entire premise of the film would have shifted for me if not for using horror as a cinematic tool.
As a filmmaker, how do you wish to use horror as a cinematic tool?
It's one of the most truthful cinematic tools because it makes way to declare injustices, prejudice, casteism and sexism. As a cinematic experience too it helps push visual boundaries. The beauty of horror is that it identifies good and evil. In the case of Lalanna's Song, the private lives of Shoby and Rima are confronted by an external horror that they internalise and extend their evil towards little Lalannas who in turn conflicts them with her own horror.
Why is there a resurgence of horror movies and shows of late?
Filmmakers world over are realising what a powerful and liberating genre horror can be. The genre, in general, has always offered its audiences a spectacle that can be immersive and exciting in the safety of your own reality. Horror alerts us about cautionary tales in our own realm. Plus, the whole exploration of good and evil, especially in our times, becomes an exciting experience for audiences to partake in. There are so many types of horror and in all these forms of telling there is the path to truth.
Tell us about your writing process and the themes that prompted you to tell this story. Through my storytelling, I wanted to be authentic to the female experience.
While writing I wanted to hold space for my own experiences as a woman – the irrevocable horrors of patriarchy suffered by women, from the generational trauma women are constantly addressing as well as the complexities of motherhood, gender, caste, religion, and feminism.
How did actors Parvathy Thiruvothu and Rima Kallingal come on board?
Parvathy and Rima are two phenomenal actors who represent a brave new world that questions these very biases and the conditioning of patriarchy. I was confident that they will be able to explore the character of Shoby and Rima with conviction and vulnerability, despite the cruelty and evil their characters are capable of. Their own chemistry and the way they represent and hold space for female friendships is lovely and enriching. This automatically led to their casting which was ideal for the film.
Both the children in the film are subjected to scrutiny in different ways. Did you specifically want to talk about children?
Both the children Meenu Kutty (played by Hannah Joby) and Lalanna (Nakshatra Indrajit) are victims of unhinged behaviour and scrutiny in the gaze of adult women. Be it their bodies or their character. Often if not always this is the case in reality too. Children (especially girls) suffer and are lifelong impacted by the scrutiny that comes in the form of their mothers, grandmothers, neighbourhood aunties they meet and others. Obviously, the cycle continues: the hunted become the hunters. Patriarchal conditioning has nourished this vicious cycle. In fact, there is a scene that highlights how these two children are able to, in their own way, stand by each other and question the behaviour of the women. Lalanna, finally, takes a stance and the results are quite colossal.
What kind of stories and characters are you drawn to? Newborns (2014) is about acid attack victims and What Are The Odds (2019) is a whimsical tale about teenage friendship.
Women – all kinds – have always held a space in my journey as a storyteller