Barroz is a Malayalam-language fantasy fiction tale of a ghost slave who was entrusted with safeguarding his master’s treasures. This film happens to be Malayalam actor par extraordinaire Mohanlal’s debut directorial venture. As an actor, he could be considered one of the best in world cinema, and with this film, he ventures into the technical side of the field and puts forward a story laced with magical realism elements.
Spoilers Ahead
Who was Barroz?
Barroz began with a young woman performing fado, the traditional Portuguese music that mainly draws from sadness. This time her fado is about Barroz, a ghost who protected treasures, and her song described his heroism. Barroz, a bald warrior with tattoos all over his body, emerges from within a dungeon to protect the treasures he was entrusted with guarding. He was a slave bought by Cristóvão da Gama from the Malabar region of Kerala, and he served his masters with utmost loyalty. He fights off thieves, and hilariously they are not able to see him since he was an otherworldly entity. Barroz meets an African rag doll who calls himself Voodoo, and the two begin to protect each other. Barroz, out of the blue, remembers Isabella, the daughter of his master, and the memory of her brings back his urge to protect her at any cost.
What was happening in Goa?
The story moves to Goa, where a large auction was being carried out to sell Vasco da Gama’s mansion. Isa was a half Indian-Portuguese, and the daughter of one of the buyers of the mansion, Ron Madhav, but she was not keen on hanging out with her father and his peers. She was interested in befriending Chota, a local boy who introduced her to Maria, his aunt of African heritage who was into black magic.
How did Isa meet Barroz?
Isa was a young girl in her early teens and was interested in exploring and discovering things around her. She accidentally walks into the dungeon that held a lot of jewels and other treasures by following a blue light. It could be assumed the blue light was sent by Aunt Maria to lure Isa into the dungeon. Voodoo let Barroz know that Isa, the young girl, was the 13th generation daughter of his master da Gama’s family, and only she would be able to save him. Aunt Maria’s plan was to make Barroz notice the little girl, so he would venture out in the open with the sole purpose of protecting her. Aunt Maria hoped to use this trick to enter the dungeon and steal the treasure. Isa did walk into the dungeon, and as planned, Barroz did see her and quickly deduce the girl bore a striking resemblance to his master Cristóvão da Gama’s daughter, Isabella.
Barroz ventured out of the dungeon with Voodoo to find Isa. The young girl was the only person who could see him and Voodoo. Neither the police nor her family could see these two entities. Everyone assumed the girl to be delusional, but she was sure she could see Barroz in the crowd in ancient garbs. Isa finally met Barroz by walking on the water indicating the young girl had magical powers. Barroz was aware of his powers since he was a ghost, while Isa could not believe she could walk on the water. Her meeting with Barroz also made her realize she was a good fado singer as well.
What was the story of da Gama?
The story goes back to the 17th century, when Barroz was again described as someone who was loyal to da Gama and his family. Without any context, the story moves to Cristóvão da Gama being injured in an attack on the fortress in Goa. Barroz was helping the women and children to escape on a ship in the middle of all this. There was no clarity on who was attacking and what the commotion was all about. Cristóvão da Gama and his wife asked Barroz to keep Isabella safe on the ship. Barroz promised Isabella that he would join them, but he had to see to his first priority, which was to protect his master from the invasion. There was utter chaos, and the story showed how normalized slavery was, and how the invaders brainwashed the locals into serving them till the end. Barroz had that mindset, and he wanted to help his master’s family at any cost.
How was Barroz trapped?
On reaching the fortress to save Cristóvão da Gama, Barroz was a witness to an African Black magic practitioner and her followers carrying out chants to gain control of his master. The black magician was an ancestor of Aunty Maria, and since they were related, both looked the same. Barroz was confused about what was happening, as he did not expect this person who claimed to be from the tribe of Heri Bibilava in Africa to show up. They probably wanted to get hold of the treasure Cristóvão da Gama had hidden in the fortress. This was most likely about the conquistadors stealing treasures from the natives while invading their land.
Maria only wanted to get everything they were owed back. Since Barroz was an obstacle, they had to get rid of him. She had begun the rituals on Cristóvão da Gama, and he was transfixed into agreeing to her plans to keep Barroz in the fortress. Barroz had to be trapped in such a manner that he would not be able to make any decisions on his own. Barroz, just like his master, Cristóvão da Gama, was transfixed into serving them and had to stay back as ordered. There was a lot of treasure left behind, and Barroz agreed to be its guard, since it was his duty. The black magician Maria went out of her way to perform rituals on Barroz, and he transformed himself into a warrior who was supposed to be the guardian of the dungeon. This is where he had to get rid of his mane and become bald. He was given powers through the rituals and buried behind those walls of the dungeon.
Did Barroz live or die?
Barroz was confusing since a lot of subplots were left unattended. Many loose ends were not tied up, and it seemed like the makers were in a hurry to end the film. The story moved to the current timeline that featured Barroz, Isa, and Voodoo, who were now aware of the fact that treasure was under a looming threat. The auction was going on simultaneously, and Isa had hoped her father would be able to buy the mansion and restore it to its former glory instead of converting it into a casino as per his original plan. Maria, using her black magic, created an illusory version of Cristóvão da Gama to fool Barroz into following the orders of his “master.” Barroz was a loyalist, and he would never say no to the head of the family he served. An entity in the form of Cristóvão da Gama arrived in the dungeon. Maria, using him, had hoped to fool Barroz, but that did not happen. Isa walked into the dungeon, this time without any fear, to watch Barroz fighting her ancestor Cristóvão da Gama and other armed men made to move through Maria’s magic.
Barroz movie ended with the fight between the guardian and Cristóvão da Gama, who was moving around through Maria’s magic. Barroz was gravely injured in the process, yet during the fight, he was able to use his power to kill Cristóvão da Gama and Maria at the same time. Their powers ceased to exist, and one reason could be that Barroz’s ghost had grown powerful in the last three centuries after being buried alive in the dungeon. This could be the only explanation. In the fight between good and bad, Barroz had to win since he was a loyal and loving father figure to Isa. Sadly, he had moved on to the other world by handing over the keys of the dungeon filled with treasure to Isa, the heir.
Isa’s father purchased the mansion at the auction, and we believe he did not convert the home into a casino. Her father, Ron Madhav, may have had a change of mind. He most likely was keen to have a good relationship with his daughter, and fulfilling her request was his first step towards making things right. The epilogue of the film had a young boy attending the Lisbon Fado Festival. The adult Isa was singing fado, and this is the first scene of the film. Isa was now an adult and singing fado based on her experiences with Barroz in Goa. It was her way to dedicate her work to the man who, without asking any questions, served her and her family until he simply got the release he wanted from life in the dungeons. The young boy offered Isa a small gift bag filled with magical bees. The two followed the magical beads and both were witness to the sparkles going away. The man soon disappeared, making the audience wonder what just happened. The end was inconclusive, and adding random magical elements does not make the film any more watchable. The man who showed up with a bag full of bees and was not seen in the film throughout, and it only makes the ending oddly ambiguous. Fantasy fiction has a set of rules that cannot be broken to keep the genre intact from the start till the end. No rules were formed; hence the ending had no meaning whatsoever.
