NOSTALGIA is what gives Sohan Lal a kick. That musty smell, the dust and the cobwebs that holds within them myriad colourful memories, is what gets him going, at full steam. Sohan is on his second nostalgia trip with the film ‘Orkkuka Vallapozhum’ which will hit the theatres on Friday.
The first one, and a very successful one at that, was ‘Neermaathalathinte Pookkal’ based on a story by Madhavikkutty. A story from her childhood and about an extraordinary relationship with her grandmother. ‘‘Well, I had planned a trilogy, the second of which is the present film,’’ said Sohan, whose telefilm got him a number of awards. Ask Sohan about the third, and he would give a dimpled smile.
Orkkuka Vallapozhum is about Sethumadahavan’s journey back to his past, the bungalow where he lived, the British School where his father was a tecaher and most importantly the film is about his longing for his heartthrob, Paru. The theme is old, but Sohan’s treatment could be interesting, with the protagonist being a silent observer of all those events unfolding from the current. ‘‘There are times when he even interacts with the character,’’ said Sohan.
This was a challenge not just to Sohan but cameraman M.J.Radhakrishnan too. ‘‘We had decided on a dull tone to depict the present and a very colourful one for the happy memories. But then when it came to the scenes that inter-crossed, with both scenes from the past and the protagonist in the present, it was a tough proposition,’’ recalled Sohan. Even the bungalow had to be set to two different time periods, one in pre-independence era and then over six decades later. It was after Independence that Sethumadhavan’s father lost his job and they had to move out of that British bungalow, the embodiment of his boyhood and adolescence. The art direction is by Jayashanker Ezhuthavoor.
But Sohan Lal is a happy man, the film having come out pretty much the same way as he had conceived. ‘‘Thilakan’s acting and dubbing were truly the high points. Though he is known to be difficult, with us he was the most co-operative. We also made sure that he was not inconvenienced without reason,’’ he said. Sethu’s character is portrayed in three periods of time, the boyhood portrayed by Dhananjay of ‘Guruvayoorappan’ fame and the youngster by Rajat Menon.
Sohan was also particularly happy with Radhakrishnan’s excellent cinematography, M.Jayachandran’s music and Ramesh Narayanan’s background score. The music absolutely gels with the theme. The title song is a tribute to P.Bhaskaran, the songs Aa Raavil, Enthinaamizhi and Tamarapookkalum being tributes to Changampuzha Krishnapillai, Olappamanna Subramanian Namboothiri and Vayalar Ramavarma respectively. The song Mampoopadam has such an old world charm about it that you almost expect Nazeer and Sheela to drop out of the screen as in ‘kananachayayil adumeykkan....’.
‘‘Actually it was Bhaskaran mash’s poem ‘orkukka vallappozhum’ that inspired me to do the film,’’ said Sohan. The film was shot in the high ranges of the state, mostly the picturesque locations of Kuttikanam and Vagamon in approximately 23 days. The script is by Sohan himself, lyrics by Girish Puthencheri, editing by Vijayakumar and production by Vinu Y.S. The cast also includes Jagadeesh, Krishnachandran, Chali Pala, Shilpabala, Meera Vasudev, Bindu Varappuzha and Baby Malavika.
Ask Sohan what is the best, the very best part about the film...and you get to see that dimpled smile again. It slowly turns mischievous as he points to himself and then yells....‘‘Hey, don’t write that down, okay’’. And we promised that we will not!!!.
reema_narendran@epmltd.com