Neelavelicham (2023)

The film opens with an unknown man entering the abandoned mansion Bhargavi Nilayam at midnight, only to flee in terror after encountering a ghostly figure.

A dispirited writer arrives at the mansion, located in a village, and notices the shocked reactions of the locals. Inside, he finds the house covered in dust, suggesting it has long been uninhabited, but decides to clean and stay there because he has nowhere else to go. Later, at a restaurant, the owner initially agrees to deliver meals to the mansion, but retracts the offer upon learning where the writer lives, claiming the lunch carrier is broken. The writer instead decides to eat at the restaurant.

That evening, the writer visits his friends, who explain the mansion's feared reputation. In the 1950s, a beautiful young woman named Bhargavi supposedly committed suicide by jumping into the well after a failed romance, and villagers believe her ghost still haunts the house. They also mention a man named Nanukuttan, who had loved her. Unfazed, the writer insists Bhargavi would not harm him and begins speaking to her ghost.

The following morning, villagers are astonished to find him alive. At the restaurant, the owner repeats the same story, and the writer reveals that he plans to write about Bhargavi. While working on the story, he hears noises from a storeroom and discovers a locked box. After forcing it open, he finds Bhargavi's photograph, a strand of curly hair wrapped in newspaper reporting a dead body found on a train, and a love letter signed by Nanukuttan. Investigating further, he comes to suspect that Bhargavi was murdered rather than driven to suicide. One night, after returning with kerosene for his lamp, he finds the mansion glowing with an intense blue light.

The narrative then shifts to the past. Bhargavi, a talented college student skilled in singing and dancing, asks her neighbour Sasi Kumar, a singer and sitar player, to accompany her at a college festival. Their successful performances together lead to a romance. Bhargavi's cousin Narayanan, who is infatuated with her and intends to marry her, grows jealous. After confirming her relationship with Sasi Kumar, he declares his wish to marry her, but Bhargavi refuses, saying she will marry no one but Sasi Kumar. Narayanan then resolves to eliminate his rival. He later sends Bhargavi a threatening letter, revealing that Narayanan and Nanukuttan are the same person.

When Sasi Kumar leaves for Lucknow because of political unrest in the village, Narayanan accompanies him on the train under the pretence of travelling to Delhi for a job interview. Claiming the fruit is from Bhargavi, he gives Sasi Kumar poisoned bananas. As Sasi Kumar struggles to breathe and asks for water, Narayanan refuses to help. Sasi Kumar dies on the train, though Narayanan later admits he also strangled him to ensure his death.

Bhargavi grows distressed as Sasi Kumar fails to return. Days later, Narayanan visits her alone and reveals that Sasi Kumar is dead. When Bhargavi insists that she belongs to Sasi Kumar even in death and can never marry Narayanan, he becomes enraged and throws her into the well, killing her.

Back in the present, the writer nears completion of his story. One night, while standing near the well and apparently speaking to Bhargavi's ghost, he is confronted by Narayanan, who confesses to murdering both Bhargavi and Sasi Kumar. Fearing exposure, Narayanan attacks the writer. During their violent struggle in the rain, they reach the well, where Narayanan nearly drowns him before slipping into the water himself. The writer attempts to save him with a rope, but Bhargavi's spirit drags Narayanan deeper into the well, causing him to die in the same manner as Bhargavi. A bright blue light emerges once more from the well, and the manuscript Narayanan had thrown into it rises back to the surface, suggesting Bhargavi's wish for the truth to be published.