Premonition ~ Nooravathu Naal; Iyer, the Great and ... man dreamt of killing wife

On a day when thoughts wandered, - ‘hunting elephants’ came to mind… a search revealed that ‘Hunting Elephants’ is not about killing the pachyderm, but is a 2013 Israeli crime comedy which plot centres around  a 12 year old boy attempting to rob a bank….in some ways – a thought of doing something ‘different’ ….. not all dare to defy convention and pursue their dreams…. Dreams is about thinking, subconsciously, and of trying to break the shackles of routine dull monotony…..

Premonition (Noun) :  a feeling or belief that something is going to happen when there is no definite reason to believe it will..

Then there is ESP (Extrasensory perception)  that involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term would denote psychic abilities such astelepathy, clairaudience, and clairvoyance, and their trans-temporal operation as precognition. ESP is also sometimes referred to as a sixth sense. The term implies acquisition of information by means external to the basic limiting assumptions of science, such as that organisms can only receive information from the past to the present. Parapsychology is the study of paranormal psychic phenomena, including ESP.

Nooravathu Naal (Hundredth Day) directed by Manivannan starring Mohan, Vijayakant, Nalini and Sathyaraj was released in 1984 ….the suspense thriller was of a psychopath who abducts young women and kills them.  In the film, they will see a weekly magazine with a cover photo of horse (much before the release of the magazine) and sooner the same will hit the stands …. More of such premonition would follow ……… including killings..

In the 1990s, Malayalam films of Mammootty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi had good run in Chennai, especially in Saffire theatre… ‘Iyer the Great; was one such psychological thriller directed by Bhadran, starring Mammootty & Geetha.  The storyline was on ‘ESP’…..

Vaikundam Surya Narayana Iyer (Mammootty), a normal business executive leads a normal family life along with Venigeetha, his wife and his mother.  One day, upon climbing a tall tree in order to capture an escaped pet parrot, Iyer undergoes acrophobia (fear of heights) and suddenly acquires  the power of clairvoyance. His mind undergoes severe strain after this opening a new revelation. A couple of days later, he foresees a train accident with exact train number, and time of incident and warns the railway authorities. A couple of days later, Iyer foresees a terrible airplane accident and informs the authorities about a future bombing at a flight in Delhi.

The authorities pay heed to the warning, avert the accident and Iyer hits fame.  Then he gets an insight of food adulteration in baby food.. then he predicts setting of Sun ……. Police protection is provided, but terrorists murder him. 

Premonition is a 2007 American drama horror thriller film directed by Mennan Yapo and starring Sandra Bullock; the film's plot depicts a depressed housewife named Linda who experiences premonitions about her husband's death and the events that follow afterward and how she attempts to save him from his impending doom.

Now read this newsitem in today’s TOI .. titled ‘Man has dream of killing wife, sends cops on ‘body’ hunt…….

Chennai: In a series of events as surreal as they can possibly get, a 27-year-old man led a police team on a wild goose chase for more than four hours on Monday after surrendering to the Triplicane police and stating that he had killed his wife.  Vinayagam, 27, a daily wage worker from Chinna Mettupalayam near Saravanampatti in Coimbatore, took six policemen to six locations including Nelson Manickam Road and Chintadripet railway station and then said he remembered that he had buried his wife along the banks of a river.

After this revelation, the policemen scoured the banks of the Cooum for more than an hour before reality finally struck Vinayagam: He had dreamed the entire thing. A senior officer said Vinayagam did not appear to have deliberately misled the police team and did not appear to be of unsound mind. “He appeared to completely believe what he was telling us,” he said. But the policemen who accompanied Vinayagam were not amused. They took him back to the police station and threw him in the slammer before booking him for creating a nuisance.

The officer said Vinayagam arrived at the Triplicane police station on Monday morning. He had killed his wife after he caught her in a compromising position with another man, he told stunned police officers. Vinayagam said he had taken his wife to Tirupur after discovering that she had a lover. The couple then arrived in Chennai and, Vinayagam said, he took his wife near Ambedkar School in Egmore, where he slit her throat with a knife. The Triplicane police immediately alerted the Egmore police who took Vinayagam in a patrol vehicle on a search for his wife’s body that started at 11 am. He told the policemen that he had dumped the body on Nelson Manickam Road. But as they drove toward Nungambakkam, Vinayagam appeared confused. Apologising for not being familiar with the city, he redirected them to Chintadripet railway station, saying he left the body on the railway tracks. He took police to more other locations before Vinayagam said he remembered burying the body on the banks of the Cooum.

After Vinayagam realised he was only recounting a dream, police called his wife and found that she was indeed alive. She said she had separated from Vinayagam. Police charged Vinayagam under IPC sections 71 (a) and 75 (creating nuisance). A magistrate remanded him in judicial custody.

Of course, this is not ‘chasing the dreams’ I started post, that was more about doing things passionately and pursuing the avocation that is closer to one’s heart…..

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

9^th April 2014.