KOCHI: Olavum Theeravum is the first Malayalam film to experiment with the infinite possibilities of outdoor locations unlike the conventional style followed by the directors of the past. P N Menon, the director of the film simply created magic using the script written by M T Vasudevan Nair. The visual experience with realistic life sketches of Baapputty (Madhu), Nabeesu (Usha Nandini), Beevathumma (Philonima) and the negative Kunjali (Jose Prakash) brought a revolutionary change in Malayalam cinema. In a sense Menon demolished the fancy world of the silver screen that always presented an exaggerated version of everything.
Mankada Ravi Varma, the cinematographer who knew what Menon wanted, created the soul of village life in this film without losing the beauty of visuals.
A number of film lovers’ organisations including P Bhaskaran Foundation, Bharathan Foundation, Monday Theatre, Kerala Kalapeetom and Cochin Film Society are jointly organising ‘Smruthi Pranamam’ to pay tribute to P N Menon’s odd and solitary path of film making.
“Olavum Theeravum became a path breaker in the history of Malayalam filmdom which was later followed by great filmmakers like Aravindan,” says T Kaladharan of Orthic Creative Centre.
Orthic Creative Centre in association with School of Media Studies is organising a five-day-long P N Menon remembrance fest at Nanappa Art Gallery till September 13. “Whether it is poster designing, painting or filmmaking Menon always left an imprint of his own which cannot be imitated,” says Kaladharan.
Taking into account Menon’s skill as an artist and poster designer the organisers are also conducting a painting cum photo exhibition to highlight Menon's unique personality. Menon was always impressed by the serenity of villages and he used his camera to tap the beauty of rural life. Since he started his career as a poster designer, he turned each and every frame in his films into visual poetry as he did in Mazhakkaru, Chembarathy, Kadmba and many others. Most of his films reflected the calm and quiet village life in a simple and convincing style.
Menon was very keen to avoid the fancy effects during the time of visualising songs. But the master director created some all-time hits like Chakravarthini (Chembarathy), Pralayapayodhiyil urangi (Mazhakkaru) and the folk number Appozhum paranjille (Kadamba) using the main theme of his films in an amazing way.
His films come across as visual poems taking the audience to another level of appreciation. With an aim to share this unique experience with the new generation of film buffs, selected films by Menon will be screened during the fest.
The films include Mazhakkaru (10th), Chembarathy (11th), Panimudakku (12th) and Nerkkuner (13th).
On all days remembrance meets will be held in the evening and renowned personalities like Bharathi P N Menon, Kanayi Kunjiraman, T V Chandran, T Kaladharan, K M Roy, K R Mohanan and others will share their memories about Menon and his films. An exhibition of Menon’s paintings and photos will be open to the public from 10 am to 7 pm on all days at Nanappa Art Gallery. Remembrance meets and screening of films will be held at 5.30 pm on all days.
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