Anatomy of an Anti-Hero: Negotiating Identity and Power in Malayalam New Wave Cinema

this journal examines how Malayalam New Wave cinema shifts from idealized heroes to complex, flawed male characters. Through Fahadh Faasil’s roles in Kumbalangi Nights, Joji, and Trance, it explores masculinity in crisis using psychoanalysis and masculinity studies. The study argues that these portrayals reveal instability, repression, and vulnerability at the core of modern masculinity.