Sahadathossain at 09:43, 3 March 2026

2026-03-03T09:43:39Z

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{{Short description|2021 film directed by R. K. Sankar and Salil V.}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Chathur Mukham
| image = Chathur Mukham.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Ranjeet Kamala Sankar Salil V
| producer = Jiss Toms Justin Thomas [[Manju Warrier]]
| writer = Abhayakumar K Anil Kurian
| starring = [[Sunny Wayne]] [[Alencier Ley Lopez]] [[Manju Warrier]]
| music = [[Dawn Vincent]]
| cinematography = [[Abinandhan Ramanujam]]
| editing = [[Manoj (film editor)|Manoj]]
| studio = Jiss Toms Movies [[Manju Warrier| Manju Warrier Productions]]
| distributor = Century Release
| released = {{Film date|2021|4|8}}
| runtime = 138 minutes
| country = India
| language = Malayalam
| budget =
{{INRConvert|5.5|c}}<ref>{{cite web |date=13 January 2021 |title=Manju Warrier's first horror thriller 'Chathurmukham' to hit theatres |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/movies-music/movie-news/manju-warrier-s-first-horror-thriller-chathurmukham-to-hit-theatres-in-february-movie-1.5354951 |website=[[Mathrubhumi]] |access-date=27 March 2021 |archive-date=24 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124041557/https://english.mathrubhumi.com/movies-music/movie-news/manju-warrier-s-first-horror-thriller-chathurmukham-to-hit-theatres-in-february-movie-1.5354951 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Chathurmukham Press Meet, Manju Warrier reveals one secret in meeting! | website=The PrimeTime | date=2021-03-25 | url=https://theprimetime.in/chathurmukham-press-meet-manju-warrier-reveals-one-secret-in-meeting/ | access-date=2021-07-04}}</ref>
| gross = {{INRConvert|2|c}}
}}

'''''Chathur Mukham''''' ({{Translation|The Fourth Face}}) is a 2021 [[Indian cinema|Indian]] [[techno-horror]] [[thriller film]] directed by Ranjeet Kamala Sankar and Salil V for the screenplay written by Abhayakumar K and Anil Kurian.<ref>{{cite web |date=22 February 2021 |title=Manju Warrier's Chathur Mukham is a techno-horror film |url=https://www.cinemaexpress.com/stories/news/2021/feb/22/manju-warriers-chathur-mukham-is-a-techno-horror-film-22974.html |website=[[The New Indian Express|Cinema Express]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=M. |first=Athira |date=11 March 2021 |title=Manju Warrier: I am always happy, irrespective of the success or failure of projects |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/manju-warrier-on-her-new-releases-and-her-second-innings/article34043989.ece |website=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> The film stars [[Manju Warrier]], [[Sunny Wayne]], [[Alencier ley Lopez]], [[Niranjana Anoop]], [[Babu Annur]], [[Shyamaprasad]] and [[Rony David]] in lead roles. [[Manoj (film editor)|Manoj]] has edited the film while [[Abinandhan Ramanujam]] handled the cinematography. [[Dawn Vincent]] composed the original songs and [[background score]]. The film is jointly produced by Jiss Toms and Justin Thomas under Jiss Toms Movies and Manju Warrier Productions.<ref>{{cite web |date=23 February 2021 |title=Motion poster of Chathur Mukham unveiled |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2021/feb/23/motion-poster-of-chathur-mukham-unveiled-2267474.html |website=[[The New Indian Express]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 March 2021 |title=ഭയപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ 'ചതുര്‍മുഖം'; മലയാളത്തിലെ ആദ്യ ടെക്‌നോ ഹൊറര്‍ ചിത്രം റിലീസിന് |trans-title=Malayalam's first Techno-horror film to release |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/movies-music/news/chathur-mukham-manju-warrier-sunny-wayne-techno-horror-movie-1.5533172 |website=[[Mathrubhumi]] |language=ml}}</ref> In the film, Thejaswini, a young woman, buys a cheap smartphone after she loses her old one in an accident. Soon, she is terrorised by a malevolent supernatural entity through the phone, which threatens her safety and those of others, making her seek help.

''Chathur Mukham'' is the story of that nightmare, when over acceptance and dependence on technology can take a turn for the worse, leaving one's best friend as the worst enemy. The movie, with the international title 'The Fourth Face' is selected to the [[25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival]] (BIFAN) in South Korea, one of the premier festivals for fantasy and horror. It is showcased in the World Fantastic Red sections of the festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bifan.kr/eng/program/program_list.asp?sc_category_seq=4005 |title=Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival-238 |publisher=Bifan.kr |date= |access-date=2021-07-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Iyengar | first=Shriram | title=Three Indian films make it to 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea | website=Cinestaan | date=2021-06-22 | url=https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2021/jun/22/30140 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625005450/https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2021/jun/22/30140 | url-status=live | archive-date=25 June 2021 | access-date=2021-07-04}}</ref> It was selected to Chuncheon International Film Festival (CIFF) and [[Méliès International Festivals Federation]] (MIFF) as Asian entry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://keralakaumudi.com/news/news.php?id=591688|title = ഒടിടി റിലീസിന് പിന്നാലെ ചതുർമുഖത്തിന് ഇരട്ടിമധുരം, അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര ഫിലിം ഫെസ്റ്റിവലുകളിലേക്ക് തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കപ്പെട്ടതിന് പുറമേ തെലുങ്കിലേക്കും, റൈറ്റ്സ് വിറ്റത് റെക്കാഡ് തുകയ്ക്ക്}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://en.ciff.kr/notice/?uid=2&mod=document&pageid=1|title = Announcement: 2021 CCFF Official Selection(International Independent Sci-Fi Film)|date = 29 June 2021}}</ref>

==Plot==
Clement is a retired professor from the [[Kerala Agricultural University]] who has also been an avid science enthusiast all his life. Antony, a young man has come to meet Clement with a peculiar problem. He believes that Clement can find a solution to this 'never seen before' phenomenon. Over a cup of tea, Antony details the story of a young, bright woman – Thejaswini. She is a woman of today's times being a complete social media addict and constantly attached to her phone. Together with Antony, she runs a [[CCTV]] solutions business at Thiruvananthapuram. Thejaswini is from a middle-class family and believes that every girl should have a good education and attain financial stability before her nuptials. Thejaswini's parents are getting older and her sole sibling is an elder brother Bijesh who is not on talking terms with her. While attending a ''mudiyattam'' ritual at the temple, an accident renders Thejaswini's smart phone useless.

With the intention of having a cheaper phone as a stand by for the time being, Thejaswini comes across an unheard of brand of phone, called Liza, on a local reseller website. The phone has attractive features, a low price, and an accompanying free gift. Soon as she purchases the phone and it arrives via courier, unnatural events start to happen around her. These occurrences which seem way out of the normal, start to impact Thejaswini's work, self and even her body, so much so that she tries to get rid of the new purchase by various means, only to find it pulling her back to itself with greater force. Thejaswini suspects that there is something much deeper behind these events and that its somehow connected to her. She along with Antony set out on the journey to unravel the mystery behind the phone.

The mystery, it turns out, is life-threatening. The malevolent spirit behind the phone, Adarsh Paul, is the creator of the Liza phone. In his lifetime, Adarsh was unsuccessful in procuring investors for the phone. One prospective investor backed out, upon discovery that the selfie camera did not work well, and gave Adarsh a deadline of 21 days to fix the selfie camera. This matter sent Adarsh into a rage, angry that his phone was not well respected, and frustrated with the 21 day deadline. Adarsh became determined to kill others involved. He killed one investor, then set the lab on fire, and attempted to leave, only to find himself trapped in the lab. Once he perished, he became trapped in his own creation. Since then, those who purchase the phone are given 21 days to live. The number of days left is recorded in the selfie photo taken by the victims. Some who once had the phone have died. Thejaswini discovers that she has even less time to live, as the number in her selfie photo suddenly dropped from 15 to 4. The pair realise that they need to get help fast.

Thejaswini and Antony turn to Clement to find closure to this problem. Clement, though shaken due to the unexplainable incidents, consults his friend Ramachandran, who advises him to keep aside the ego of a scientist and accept the issue to arrive at an out-of-the-box solution. The trio experiment with using a [[Faraday cage]] to trap the negative energy inside positive energy. Keeping the Liza phone in the oven contains the negative energy for one day, enough for the number in Thejaswini's selfie photo, which would have been 1, to become 2. But the group realises that the oven will not be enough to keep containing the negative energy. The group decides to have a large Faraday cage custom-built. But the Faraday cage cannot be built on time, at reasonable price, through official channels. So, the group resort to having the Faraday cage built illicitly, at high cost, as otherwise Thejaswini does not have much time to live.

When the Faraday cage is built, the group sets out to turn on the machine. The trip is perilous; Thejaswini's and Antony's lives are threatened at every step. Eventually, Antony succeeds in turning on the machine. Thejaswini, who had been incapacitated, begins to recover. With the Faraday cage turned on, the malevolent spirit's power over Thejaswini and Antony ends. The group returns home.

Words that were said during the investigation are revisited. The camera shows the frightened Adarsh, trapped in the lab which he had set on fire, while it is said that he may be trapped in his own creation. It is said that negative energy cannot be destroyed, and that the energy within us may return in new forms. One investigator had copied the contents of the Liza phone to a computer. That investigator's words are repeated, as the camera pans to the computer, which is loading the contents of the Liza phone. A message appears on the command line: "Press {{LGR|ENTER}} to activate". The desk lamp falls onto the computer keyboard, hitting the Enter key, and thus activating the copy of the Liza phone. What happens thereafter is unknown.

== Cast ==
* [[Manju Warrier]] as Thejaswini
* [[Sunny Wayne]] as Antony
* [[Alencier Ley Lopez]] as Clement
* [[Niranjana Anoop]] as Safiya
* [[Babu Annur]] as Thejaswini's father
* [[Shyamaprasad]] as Ramachandran
* [[Rony David]] as Naveen Joseph
* [[Srikant Murali]] as Philip Tharian
* Shaju Sreedhar as Dr. Manoj Thomas
* Kalabhavan Prajod as Bijesh
* Balaji Sarma as Zakaria
* Navas Vallikkunnu as Basheer
* Saranjith as Adarsh Paul

== Production ==
''Chathur Mukham'' was filmed and completed during December 2019 and January 2020 at [[Trivandrum district|Trivandrum]].<ref>{{cite web |date=9 January 2020 |title=Manju Warrier's 'Chathur Mukham' nears completion |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/manju-warriers-chathur-mukham-nears-completion-115761 |website=[[The News Minute]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 February 2021 |title=Watch: First look motion poster of Manju Warrier's 'Chathur Mukham' |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/watch-first-look-motion-poster-manju-warrier-s-chathur-mukham-143889 |website=[[The News Minute]]}}</ref>

== Music ==

The first [[Single (music)|single]] from the film album, ''Mayakondu'', was released by [[Malayala Manorama|Manorama Music]] on 29 March 2021 in [[YouTube]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}} The second song from the film album, the spooky ''Paathiyil theerunno'', was released by [[Malayala Manorama|Manorama Music]] on 8 July 2021 in [[YouTube]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.manoramaonline.com/music/music-news/2021/07/09/paathiyil-theerunnu-song-from-the-movie-chathurmukham.html|title=നിഗൂഢത നിറച്ച് ചതുർമുഖത്തിലെ രണ്ടാം ഗാനം; പ്രേക്ഷകരെ നേടി 'പാതിയിൽ തീരുന്നോ'}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="background:#fff;"
|+
|-
! Track !! Song !! Lyricist !! Composer !! Singer(s)
|-
| 1 || ''Mayakondu'' || [[Manu Manjith]] || [[Dawn Vincent]] || [[Shweta Mohan]]
|-
| 2 || ''Paathiyil theerunno (Liza culmination)'' || [[Manu Manjith]] || [[Dawn Vincent]] || [[Amrita Jayakumar]]
|}

==Release==
===Theatrical===
The film was released on 8 April 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Watch Chathur Mukham Online Manju Warrier's Techno-Horror Film Releases On OTT Today|url=https://www.shethepeople.tv/shestars/watch-chathur-mukham-online-manju-warrier-horror-film/|access-date=2021-07-09|language=en-US}}</ref> Due to [[COVID-19]] second wave in India, the movie was released in theatres for a week and then restricted because of increase in cases.

===Home media===
The film got digitally released on 9 July 2021 on [[Video On Demand|VOD]] [[ZEE5]] and [[Telugu language|Telugu]] dubbed version in [[Aha (streaming service)|Aha]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chathur Mukham Review: A cautionary tale on technology overuse designed as a pulpy horror thriller|url=https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/reviews/chathur-mukham-review-cautionary-tale-technology-overuse-designed-pulpy-horror-thriller-806215|access-date=2021-07-09|website=PINKVILLA|date=9 July 2021|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-02|title=Manju Warrier's horror thriller Chathur Mukham set to premiere on ZEE5|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/manju-warrier-horror-thriller-chathur-mukham-set-to-premiere-on-zee5-7386502/|access-date=2021-07-09|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Box office===
On the opening day, the film grossed around 15 lakhs only. On the opening weekend, it grossed around ₹75 lakhs, with a one-week collection around ₹85 lakhs. Due to the clash with ''[[Nizhal (film)|Nizhal]]'', collections went low and grossed ₹1.2 crore nett and ₹1.5 crore internationally.
In its final run the movie grossed over ₹1.7 crore against a budget of ₹5.5 crore.

===Critical response===
''Chathur Mukham'' opened to positive reviews,<ref name="auto3">{{cite news |date=9 April 2021 |title='Chathur Mukham' movie review: Manju Warrier's 'techno-horror' has a few surprises up its sleeve |newspaper=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/chathur-mukham-movie-review-manju-warriers-techno-horror-has-a-few-surprises-up-its-sleeve/article34277300.ece |via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Chathurmukham Movie Review: Fresh ideas power this impressive horror-thriller |url=https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/malayalam/2021/apr/08/chathurmukham-movie-reviewfresh-ideas-power-this-impressive-horror-thriller-23855.html |website=[[Cinema Express]]|date=8 April 2021 }}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite web |last=Rangan |first=Baradwaj |date=20 April 2021 |title=Chathur Mukham, Starring Manju Warrier, Is A Techno-Horror With Solid Writing And Great Performances |url=https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/malayalam-review/chathur-mukham-malayalam-movie-review-manju-warrier-a-techno-horror-with-solid-writing-and-great-performances/|website=www.filmcompanion.in}}</ref> most of them praising Manju Warrier's performance as a social media addicted woman possessed by her smartphone, the same way a person can be possessed by a ghost.<ref name="auto2" />

[[Baradwaj Rangan]] of Film Companion South reviewed, "A Techno-Horror With Solid Writing And Great Performances", and added "This is not the kind of horror movie where you get jump scares, even though I did jump out of my chair once. You could call the film eerie and gently supernatural.".<ref name="auto2" /> S R Praveen of The Hindu noted that the film "has a few surprises up its sleeve" and added that "there is often an attempt to provide a scientific explanation for the happenings on the screen, with some of the characters even poking fun or dismissing the traditional Malayalam horror movie ingredients of black magic and exorcism".<ref name="auto3" /> Sajin Shrijith of Cinema Express said that "It's a film brimming with a lot of interesting and surprising ideas" and noted that "the film, primarily billed as a techno-horror thriller, manages to effectively combine elements of other sub-genres too, namely [[body horror]] and found footage."<ref name="auto" /> Few critics had mixed thoughts about the movie. Anna Mathews of Times of India criticised that the makers have "created some scary moments, but the horror elements are not scripted strongly and 'logically' enough", but praised Manju Warrier's performance. She noted that "Manju Warrier carries the role like only she could, being light-hearted when needed and shifting gears to feeling fearful in the most convincing manner."<ref>{{cite news |title=Chathur Mukham Movie Review: Innovative, but short on horror |newspaper=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movie-reviews/chathur-mukham/movie-review/81970597.cms |last1=Mathews |first1=Anna }}</ref>

Sanjith Sidhardhan from OTTPlay noticed that "directors and scriptwriter to come up with novel concepts that movies like Ezra had employed, while ensuring that it passed the ‘logic’ test of the audience" and added that "Chathur Mukham also serves as a reminder of the value of relationships and the world around us that people seem to forget while obsessed with their virtual life."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ottplay.com/review/chathur-mukham-review-manju-warrier-and-a-novel-concept-power-this-technohorror-thriller/598|title=Chathur Mukham review: Manju Warrier and a novel concept power this techno-horror thriller}}</ref>

[[The Free Press Journal]] noted that Chathur Mukham decently scores as a supernatural thriller because of its novel premise, likable performances, and a focused screenplay that does not have any forced or unrelated subplots. It begins on a thoughtful note pointing towards the present era in which the human race is fast becoming slave of its self-invented gadgets and social networks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/movie-review/chathur-mukham-review-more-techno-than-horror|title=Chathur Mukham Review: More techno than horror }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|11543916}}

[[Category:2021 Malayalam-language films]]
[[Category:2021 films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram]]
[[Category:Indian horror thriller films]]
[[Category:Techno-horror films]]
[[Category:2021 horror thriller films]]

Chathur Mukham - Revision history

Sahadathossain at 09:43, 3 March 2026