சாத்தான் ஓதிய வேதம்

"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light..."

  2 Corinthians 11:14

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Mysskin's Onaayum Aattukuttiyum is rife with all of his 'traditional' concerns - distinctive action choreography, Mysskin-esque acting, the cinema of his peers, intrinsically flawed characters, profound sadness for even the most tertiary of characters etc... [I must admit the contempt he reserved for the recent glut of 'comedy' films (Alex Pandian specifically) resonated with me quite a bit. In the opening sequences, as a man lies dying in the reception area of a hospital one of the establishment's staff watches the movie on t - mouth agape and completely oblivious to the life in dire straits less than a few inches away. When one takes into account the fact that the struggling patient is the man who conceived the scene, the parallels are easy to draw.] - but this is quite possibly the first film of Mysskin's that I viewed as a commentary on the concept of God. 

{Potential Spoilers so only read ahead if you dont care or have already watched the film}

There are the obvious visual leitmotifs laced into the art direction through the entire film; places and pieces of worship of various sizes seem to have been the directive given to the art department. And characters continue to interact with them in various ways as their own narrative arc progresses. The Holy Bible (quoted above) too makes a cameo as a suspiciously unnatural partner to a firearm. And it was from this suspicious positioning and 2 clear visual counterpoints that  my theory emanates.

Onaayum Aattukuttiyum is clearly set in a 'godless' world. And in this world there are two forces - one of power (symbolized by the bearish Thamba) and one of hope (symbolized by a blind, raconteur loving child called Karthi). The rest of this world is populated with innocents who vacillate between these powers, the unfeeling whom in the interest of self preservation have ceded allegiance to the powerful and fallen angels who despite having sided with power attempt to follow a coda in some misguided belief that this will be their salvation (or some linear interpolation of these features). These are the states of existence that Mysskin is primarily concerned with and the best written ones have (or have had an arc) that takes them through these states. 

What I found particularly visually affecting in the film is the depiction of the powers. Towards the middle of the film Thamba is carried down the stairs by two of his helpers and much later, closer to the end, there is a scene where Karthi is carried the same way. This seemed to me like Mysskin thinks we incorrectly genuflect at the altar of power. He would rather that we genuflect at the altar of that which is tender. Not a god whose power we trust in but is impotent but a god that should be protected and nurtured.