jayans

It is almost three decades since i saw the unforgettable film "Jukti Tako Aar Gappo". i saw it with subtitles since i do not know Bengali. It was being screened in a city that i lived and studied at that time. i saw the film four times, and i even knew many of the lines of the characters! The film is a journey. It is a journey of discovery for Neelkanta, the poet and two others who join him in his journey. The young man and woman. Together they traverse the countryside in Bengal.

The character Neelkanta is played by Ghatak himself. And how unforgettable is the man as "himself" in the film! And he does not forget to shoot down his great rival Satyajit Ray by presenting "Shatrujit Basu" (Utpal Dutt)whom he carefully presents almost in appearance, as Ray himself! Neelkanta accuses Shatrujit of short- changing the "cause" for fame and recognition.

The most interesting relationship is between the young lady whom Neelkanta calls "Bangabala" (girl- child of Bengal)and the young man who joins the journey. They perhaps a younger generation. Ghatak's films carry the separation theme. The river (Subarnarekha) that is symbolic of that separation; the agony of partition. The indescribable pain of a little boy whose parents happened to be on the wrong side of the river.

The river flows. Like Neelkanta's journey of discovery. He finally discovers the emerging spirit of Bengal in the forest surrounding his home in the village. He is at peace in the company of those youth who are waging a losing war against the status quo. He enters into arguments with all these characters. He goes to the forest to meet the youth fighting the police. Before going, he tells his wife to send his little son to see him the next morning early, at sunrise. "I want to see your face in against the rising sun," he says.

And he emerges from the forest in the morning, only to be shot down by the police.

i call this the most poignant film from an Indian film maker. The poetry of Death Vision. That is what it is.

And it has the intense, painful signature of Ghatak films: personal touch.

As i watched the film, i wept for Ghatak. Even today, after thirty years, i still weep. It is a pity that India never understood a genius.

Everything about this film is special: even the characters' names. Neelkanta is a synonym for God Siva. He is called Neelkanta because he has a blue patch on his neck (throat, actually). That was caused by the poison he volunteered to drink in order to save the universe from destruction (during the mythical churning of the "Ocean of Milk").

See the connection now? Neelkanta says, lifting the bottle to his lips, "This is nectar!"

Is it?

I read 'Pather Panchali' before I was ten years old when it was being published in a magazine in translation. There were many things I never really understood at that time in the novel. I read it again after growing up, as a young man. I first saw the film in 1973 at a film festival in India. In 2004, I bought the trilogy on a visit to India and watched all the three films more than three times.

It is an indescribable experience. Words fail me to express the intensity of the film in its visual beauty, thematic power, splendid acting, unbelievable camera-work and haunting music by Ravi Shankar. I do not know the names of all the actors, actresses and technicians, but I have never gone through such an experience except when watching movies by Ingmar Bergman.

Satyajit Ray took Indian cinema to the world stage, not through the hollow men and women at Hollywood, but through the Berlin Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, etc. The sensitivity of his films makes watching them the best cinematic experience. I have unabashedly awarded it 100%.

Watch all the three films, if you watch this one.

I really don't know why I am writing this because the Malayalam film industry appears to have fallen into an Age of Darkness. An Age in which really good films have no relevance; the film industry that operates within a limited geographical and linguistic terrain has produced film makers of unbelievable talent, knowledge, and mastery of the medium. It is all lost, anyway. The junk that is being churned out of Kerala currently will make any real cineaste ... hold your breath.. commit suicide!

K.P Kumaran happens to be the First Among Equals in the list of real film makers; the real creator, Kubla Khan of cellulloid!

Having seen K.P evolve (from playwright, co-script writer and Assistant Director to Adoor Gopalakrishnan when the latter made the watershed Malayalam film 'Swayamvaram',)into a film maker of incredible talent and mind-blowing understanding of the film medium, I can stand up and say in any crowd that 'Rukmini' is one of the best five films ever made in Malayalam.

Rukmini deals with the theme (something we, Keralites like to hide) of child molestation, trauma and dispossession. The film is mostly shot in a brothel in which Rukmini, the child prostitute (already molested by her stepfather) learns the trade. There are interesting characters. The 'Madam', the police inspector who is a frequent visitor to her brothel, but becomes a father when he sees the innocence of Rukmini, still asking for a doll! As in every Kumaran film, the end in this film is soaked in surrealism where we find the Madam and the rest of her 'charges' wait at a roadside after being evicted from the brothel.

in another country, another cinematic tradition 'Rukmini' would have been framed in gold and preserved in the warmth of the love of the people. Unfortunately, it is not so in Kerala (and India). We drool over a nonexistent 'Bollywood' which in actuality is a 'Follywood'.

Whatever they say, if anyone ever looking at K.P's work in future comes across my jottings on his films must contact me, please!

"Aadipapam" literally means "First Sin". This has biblical overtone, certainly. The film however, deals with the one and only act of indiscretion committed by a bored housewife when her old flame (of childhood) comes-a-visiting. While they are locked in a passionate display of the animal lust which lay buried under her mind during all the years of monotonous routine, the husband returns from work. A weak man, he collapses in a chair, and as the wife and her lover comes out they see the shocking sight of the dead husband slumped on a chair.

The wife recovers gradually and marries her lover. Unfortunately, the image of the dead man, slumped on the chair comes back to haunt her each time she has sex with her new husband. Finally, both the lives collapse. They are caught in a no man's land where they both are unable to separate good from bad. They are forever doomed and haunted by that one act of sin.

The film is done with the same intensity K.P Kumaran shows in his earlier films, 'Atithi' (1974) and 'Rock' (1973). The surrealist images of the mother and her little daughter going round in circles in slow motion and the repeated shots of the dead man's images projected in the negative are more than testimonies to K.P Kumaran's insatiable urge to annoy the ordinary viewer and the ordinary film maker. He strives for a rough-edged finish to all his films, and unfortunately for him and Malayalam film industry, it has been grossly misunderstood as poor craftsmanship. The film I understand was a colossal mishap in the box office. But it once again underlines the importance of K.P as a film maker who genuinely attempted to subvert a decadent establishment; both in the cinema and the society. "Aadipaapam" will remain as a film way ahead of its time in Malayalam film history.

Mira Nair flattered to deceive after her first film, "Salaam Bombay". The contrived tale in "Kama Sutra" lacked maturity, its only saving grace being the two young actresses. I cannot comment on "My Own Country", but I have heard that it was a good film. After "Salaam Bombay", the only meaningful film Mira Nair made was "Mississipi Masaala". Now, this new film of hers, "Monsoon Wedding" gives us new hopes of Mira maturing as a film maker.

The storyline is not complex, although the relationship between various characters is still not clear to me, even after watching the film a number of times! What is interesting is the treatment of the simple theme; a wedding in a joint Punjabi family residing in New Delhi, India's capital. The family itself is well-to-do with most of the uncles and aunts of the bride-to-be being N.R.Is (Non Resident Indians).

The bride-to-be has an affair with a TV presenter. She confesses to her American born Indian fiance about her affair, and the real, conservative Hindu Indian in the young groom rears his head and almost cancels the wedding. Finally, his love for the girl makes him relent and he agrees to marry her. There are other side shows in this seemingly pedestrian plot. The child molester "Tej Uncle" (Rajat Kapoor), who had robbed Ria, Lalit Verma's (Naseeruddin Shah) niece, of her childhood many years ago and turned the young woman into a misogamist. When she sees Tej trying to do the same with another little girl in the household, she finally confronts him. Another sub-plot (it is a little overworked, I felt) is the sudden impact the maid (a converted low caste Hindu) in Verma's household beginhs to have on the "event manager", Mr P.K. Dubey, and finally how they get married; the same time when Verma's daughter gets married.

Brilliant camera work which encapsulates India's diversity and stark realities adds to the beauty of this film. The colours are magnificent. Acting is superb with Naseeruddin Shah, as Lelit Verma, the father of the bride giving probably his best performance after "Nishaant" in the 1970's. Rajat Kapoor, the actor who played Mahatma Gandhi in "The Making of a Mahatma" gives an unforgettable performance as the squeaky clean "uncle" from abroad who goes around the joint family looking afterf everyone's welfare and quietly and cold bloodedly continues molesting little nieces and grand nieces. Roya's ourtburst at him and her running away with the Bengali friends and Verma going to plead with her to return home, all adds to the (melo) drama.

Monsoon Wedding is a charming film. Although largely light hearted, it also highlights some of the stark realities and contrasts in an India that is fast changing, where the granny is more well versed in stock market, where the Christian (converted) maid says she knows email and so on. If you have not watched it, please do. This is Mira Nair's best attempt, so far.

This film does not boast of special effects, exotic locations or tortuous storyline. It reminds one of the Absurd Theatre. To me, it is a very powerful depiction of the human situation. Two seasoned salespeople, who wait for the arrival of Bob with information on the Big Man, reminds one of Vladimir and Estragon in "Waiting for Godot". The end is stunning with Bob, the religious young man outmanoeuvring the experienced Larry (Kevin Spacey) and Phil (Danny de Vito). And mind you, these are the only characters in the film.

The only sequence in this beautifully short film takes place on a hospitality suite in an hotel. The irony and sarcasm oozing in the dialogue between Spacey and the other two makes this film very much worth watching. Another interesting thing is that one does not feel bored watching the same set, with three people talking about lubricants and religion. The director has done well to make it pleasant viewing with clever lighting and intelligent camera positions.. I am not sure about its box office success. I am quite doubtful if it was any success at all because of the subversive way in which the maker has made his statement through rejecting the beaten track to explore complex human relations in a cutthroat world.

I love this film. Please watch it, if you have not.

"Rock" has nothing to do with Alcatrus. It is barely two minutes in length. An old man rolls a rock uphill. Reaches there Takes a breath. Rolls it down. As the rock rolls down, the old man's face in close-up. Gleeful eyes. His laughter rings out loud and wild in a nowhereland.

"Rock" won a gold medal at the Expo'72 Film Festival in Tokyo.

K.P. Kumaran, the writer and director of "Rock" has attempted to recreate a myth which is a part of the Malayalam folklore. It is the myth of a character called Naraanathu Bhraanthan. Translated, the name means "The Madman of Naraanathu". He is believed to have engaged in this seemingly Sisiphyian task of rolling the stone uphill and allowing it to roll down to the other side. After it happens, the Bhraanthan comes down, starts rolling the stone from the other side. The film might appear as a futile exercise in some obscure philosophy, but in reality, "Rock" remains the only film of its kind ever made by a Malayalam movie-maker.

The depth of this short film is unfathomable, for it gives shape to probably a very abstract idea that every human achievement is ultimately futile. Brilliant camera-work enhances the visual impact of this film. There are no introductions, no other voice than those of the breathing of the old man, and a howling wind.

The rock is solid, and it exudes the beauty of a single raindrop reflecting a rainbow caught in close up.

Once again, it is a shameful thing to realise that no archival copy of this film is available to my knowledge while there are other abominable films venerated by a pseudo-intellectual middle class, which are not only archivally preserved, but also hailed as the true reflections of the "growth" of malayalam films.

"Athithi"(Guest) is arguably one of the alltime great films in Malayalam. The storyline is influenced by Harold Pinter and Edward Albee. There is a house in the sand dunes where a family awaits the arrival of Sekharan. Different members of the family have different understandins about this character. The grandfather in the family goes to the railway station to receive Sekharan, but the train never stops. There is the card playing, gam,bling son, whose beautiful wife has very complex relations with her husband's playmates. There is also the younger sister in the family, who dreams of the city and the citylights. Another character is the automobile mechanic who probably is in love with the little sister. Sekharan never arrives. After many phantasmagorical experiences by various characters, the last sequence shows the wife of the gambling man and the mechanic moving along in slowmotion. They are dancing on the dunes, in light and shade.

The story might sound absurd, but the fact is that this is a powerful portrayal of complex relationships, interminable waiting, the futility and absurdity of all those. It is very existentialist and thus emphasises the entrapment of man and woman in impossible situations.

It is rather unfortunate that this film did not receive the accolades it received. The creator of "Athithi" K.P Kumaran is the co-author of the screeplay of "Swayamvaram" (1971) a ground-breaking artfilm. One of the many qualities of "Athithi" is its haunting music and brilliant camerawork by Murthy, a newcomer. It is shot in black and white. The film was much ahead of its times. It had the beauty of Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries" with its emphasis on fantasies. I think the film critics in Kerala, who were unused to really subversive films put "Athithi" down in order to hide their own inadeqacies at proper film appreciation. It is noteworthy that K.P Kumaran nenver became a very successful filmmaker because it was never easy for a person who created such a wonderful film to stoop down to the nauseating levels of pseudo-art and masala movies of Malayalam.

I have heard (I cannot vouch for it) that this beautiful film does not even have an archival copy. How about that for a society that prides irself in its progressive outlook and intellectual "First Worldness"?