''Lisa'' is a 1978 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

-language

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Baby An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

(A. G. Baby) and produced by Dhanya Productions. Considered one of the best horror and musical flicks in Malayalam, with music by

K. J. Joy KJ Joy is a music director for the Malayalam film industry. He has composed music for 71 films. He began his career as music director in 1974, after many years as recording accordion artist for various music directors, primarily his mentor M. ...

.It was remade as

Woh Phir Aayegi ''Woh Phir Aayegi'' () is a 1988 Hindi-language Indian horror film directed by B.R. Ishara, starring Rajesh Khanna and Farha Naaz in lead roles. Plot The film depicts the fight of Raju to free his wife Aarti from the evil spirit of Asha, ...

in Hindi. The film was a major commercial success running for 100-days in theatres.

Plot

Lakshmi is a young village girl who gets a job in a town. So she gets an accommodation at a working women's hostel. Here she befriends Kala who happens to be her roommate. Eventually she befriends other women in the hostel as well. It is then revealed that Lakshmi is a complete introvert who is shy and does not involve herself in any co-curricular activities such as dance, music, arts etc. Things go well until one night, Lakshmi experiences strange activities in her room. Eventually, she is attacked by an unknown force. Since that incident, there are drastic changes in Lakshmi's behaviour. She starts behaving like a modern girl, wearing modern clothes and also taking part in the hostel's functions such as dance etc. This worries Kala, because Lakshmi's present behaviour was very much similar to her friend, Elizabeth or better known as Lisa, who died in a freak accident. Lakshmi's fiancé, Murali, is also confused by her behaviour because she rarely talked to him as before and instead spent more time with a man named Johnny, who was a singer. Moreover, Johnny used to be Lisa's boyfriend. Devastated by his girlfriend's death, he never looked upon any other girl. Things take a toll when the hostel's former warden and Lakshmi's boss's colleague are murdered. Despite the absence of concrete evidences, Suresh, a police officer and Kala's fiancé, doubts that Lakshmi may have been involved in the murders. In the end, Lakshmi transforms into a demon like figure and supernatural events take place around her. Soon, an exorcist is called to perform an exorcism on Lakshmi. When the exorcist enquires about the spirit's identity, it is revealed that Lakshmi is possessed by the spirit of Lisa. She revealed that she was an orphan, who was raised in an orphanage. Eventually, she got a job. While she was working, she had fallen in love with Johnny, who was impressed about her dancing skills. Johnny also reciprocates her feelings and the two plan to get married. But her fate took a turn when the former hostel warden was bribed by Lisa's boss's colleague to call Lisa over his hotel room and engage in sex with her. Lisa is infuriated after knowing about the ploy. In response, the colleague tries to molest her, but Lisa manages to get away from his grip. To get away from his clutches again, Lisa jumps out of the hotel's high rise window and dies due to the fall. Since then she wanted to take revenge on those responsible for her death. The exorcist then firmly tells that since she had her fill, she was supposed to leave her host's body. She responds without any hesitation and finally leaves Lakshmi's body. Soon, Lakshmi is brought back to consciousness and reunites with Murali. Court frees Lakshmi from the murders, citing it to be a behaviour that science doesn't have an answer. In the meantime, Lisa causes Johnny an accident that cost his life. In this way, both Lisa and Johnny reunite and remain together forever in heaven.

Cast

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 7 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the histo ...

as Murali *

Bhavani Bhavānī (also known as Bhāvya, Tulajā, Turajā, Tvarita, Aṃbā, Jagadambā and Aṃbē) is manifestation of Adi Shakti (Durga). Bhavani translates to "giver of life", meaning the power of nature or the source of creative energy. She is co ...

as P. Lakshmi * Seema as Lisa *

Jayan Krishnan Nair (25 July 1939 – 16 November 1980), better known by his stage name Jayan, was an Indian actor, naval officer, stunt performer and cultural icon of the 1970s and 1980s. He starred in over 150 Malayalam films. During his film caree ...

as Suresh *

Vanchiyoor Radha Vanchiyoor Radha is an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She was one of the prominent supporting actresses in late 1960s and 1970s in Malayalam movies. She has acted in more than 50 movies. Biography She is born at Vanchiyoor, Thiruvananthapu ...

Vidhubala Vidhubala is a former Indian actress who started her career in the mid-1960s and retired from the industry in 1981. She is well known for hosting the family reality show Kadhayallithu Jeevitham in Amrita TV spanning for 10 years.She has acted ...

as Kala *

Jayabharathi Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for best actress. Jayabharathi's first leading role was given by director P. Bhaskaran for his movie Kattukurangu in 1969. Later she became one of ...

as herself (cameo) *

Jose Prakash Jose Prakash (14 April 1925 – 24 March 2012) was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was a singer turned actor who had appeared in more than 300 films mostly in antagonist roles. He was awarded with the J. C. Daniel ...

as Joseph Chacko, colleague *

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film, Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in o ...

as Lakshmi's father *

Philomina Philomina (1926 – 2 January 2006) was an Indian actress, who worked in the Malayalam film industry. She acted in more than 750 films in her career. She played mostly character and comedy roles, besides that of mother and grandmother. She star ...

as Lakshmi's mother *

Kanakadurga Kanakadurga is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She hails from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. She debuted in the Malayalam movie ''Nellu'' as Kurumatti. She has acted in a few Tamil, Kannada and Telugu movies as wel ...

as former hostel warden *

Kuthiravattam Pappu Padmadalakshan, better known by his stage name Kuthiravattam Pappu (24 December 1936 – 25 February 2000), was a popular Indian stage and film actor. His repertoire of acting was based on his unique style and use of the ''Kozhikodan'' dialect, i ...

as Gopalan, hostel watchman *

M. G. Soman M. G. Soman (28 September 1941 – 12 December 1997) was an Indian actor and former Indian Air Force officer who appeared in Malayalam films. He was one among the leading star actors doing hero roles in Malayalam Cinema during the late 1970s an ...

as Lakshmi's boss *

Nellikode Bhaskaran Nellikode Bhaskaran (21 April 1924 – 11 August 1988) was an Indian actor in Malayalam movies. His real name was Bhaskara Menon. He mostly played character roles and supporting roles. Awards Kerala State Film Awards: * Second Best Actor ...

Premji Mullamangalath Parameshwaran Bhattathiripad (23 September 1908 – 10 August 1998), commonly known as M. P. Bhatathirippad or Premji, was a social reformer, cultural leader and actor from Kerala state, India. Premji joined Yogakshema Sabha ...

Ravikumar Ravikumar is Hindu given name, which means "Son of the Sun", combining the Sanskrit words "Ravi" (Sun) and "Kumar" (Son). The name may refer to: *Ravikumar (actor) (born 1953), Indian actor *Ravikumar (writer) (born 1961), Indian writer *Ravikumar S ...

as Johnny *

Kothuku Nanappan Kothuku Nanappan (12 March 1935 – 26 December 1994) was an Indian theater actor, mimicry artist and film actor in Malayalam movies during the 1980s and 1990s. His popular movies are '' Naadodikkaattu'' (1987), '' Aanaval Mothiram'' (1991), ''S ...

as Sankunni

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

and the lyrics were written by

Vijayan Vijayan is a South Indian name and may refer to: Given name *Pinarayi Vijayan (born 1944), Indian politician *Vijayan (actor) (1944–2007), Tamil & Malayalam film actor *Vijayan (stunt coordinator), action choreographer for South Indian films *Vij ...

Sequel

The film was very popular resulting in another film ''

Veendum Lisa ''Veendum Lisa'' is a 1987 Malayalam horror film. It is a sequel to the 1978 film ''Lisa''. The film was dubbed in Tamil as ''My Dear Lisa'' with a few scenes reshot. Plot The story starts with Gomathi and her daughter visiting a temple. Here t ...

'' in 1987 also directed by

.IMDb page for follow-up film ''Veendum Lisa''
/ref>

References

External links