His uncanny resemblance to the Jnanpith-winning Kannada poet is the most striking aspect of this film being made on the life and times of Kuppali Venkatappagowda Puttappa, or Kuvempu (1904-94). That the veteran theatre-television-film artiste C R Simha is well-versed with Kuvempu’s works, and can quote off-hand from them, morphs the real and the reel, making him as much the essence of Rasa Rishi Kuvempu, a bio-pic attempted on a litterateur — for the first time in Kannada cinema — slated to be released on Christmas, also the day on which the writer was born.
Celebrated as a symbol of modern Kannada literature and an icon of Kannada pride, Kuvempu’s large body of work includes 2,000 poems, two magnum opuses of novels, literary critiques and the Sri Ramayana Darshanam, a poetic work of epic proportions. But the public perception of this 20th-century writer is that of a recluse and a moody person. His crusading zeal for the downtrodden was interpreted as being a “Brahmin-hater” — a label that haunted him all his life. To make a feature film on this apparently uni-dimensional character seems insipid, but Ritwik Simha, C R Simha’s son, and a person who has taken theatre as a profession, feels Kuvempu is a “multi-faceted personality who had different layers to his persona”.
But the subject of Kuvempu itself is not new to the Simhas. Being a family immersed in theatre, Kuvempu, as the pivot of a play, was not a far-fetched idea for Simha, who captained Rasa Rishi, revolving around the writer. It completed 100 shows. “But the
essential difference between the stage adaptation and my portrayal in the film is that I had to stop acting as Kuvempu, and instead
become him. So I had to raise the emoting by several notches. This was the greatest challenge”, says the seasoned actor who even now steals the limelight from the hero on the silver screen. “There is no Simha in the film. My father has shed all his previous ways. To ensure this was a big task for both of us,” says Ritwik.
His maiden foray into filmmaking is a historic event in itself — there is no precedence of a Kannada literary personality being the fulcrum of a full-fledged feature film, although Karnataka boasts of seven Jnanpith awardees. But his film is unlike his father’s play, he says. “The play has not been made into the film, although it inspired me. I have brought in many more incidents of Kuvempu’s life”, he says.
For Simha, it was like living out a cherished dream. But, for all the spadework done on Kuvempu, right from poring over his works, and trying to glean his personality even through personal interaction with his family members, Simha’s earnest attempts to meet Kuvempu failed, and the poet
remained a enigma. He had to depend solely on a 10-minute documentary made on him by writer Chaduranga, in the early ’70s, to give him a glimpse of Kuvempu’s persona, and “I had to capture him in my imagination, as I was never able to meet him face to face”. While Chaduranga’s brief documentary captures a middle-aged Kuvempu, Simha portrays the ageing poet in the film. “It was a deep study that went into the imagining of the demeanour of the older Kuvempu, and to translate the ideas of his family on his mannerisms and character, into a solid character”, reminisces Simha.
Rasha Rishi, the play, set a new trend in theatre, when dramas revolving around a personality began to be staged, says Simha. But the genesis of the stage adaption of
Kuvempu was itself rooted in a fateful event in his life in early 1992. Simha suffered severe burn injuries on his legs in a freak accident, and there was no assurance that he would fully recover. To come out of the depression, he says he took to reading extensively on Kuvempu, which marked a turning point in his personal and professional life. Although Kuvempu was alive when Simha put up the show, the poet was unable to see the play due to ill health. But his entire family and close associates including those from the literary field approved of it, recalls Simha.
Ritwik’s Rasa Rishi Kuvempu, made under the banner of Enterprise Entertainment, is a mammoth production — over 400 professional artistes have been roped in. The music is also it mainstay — four-time state award winner V Manohar has scored the music, which includes the genres of Carnatic and Hindustani classical styles, folk, and fusion, with equal emphasis on rhythm.
Manohar says the daunting task was to re-set some of Kuvempu’s most popular poems to new tunes, including O Nanna Chetana, considered the crowning glory of the poet’s verses, advocating oneness of mankind. Noted Carnatic vocalist R K Padmanabha, with his maiden foray into cinema, has sung the song, while Rajesh Krishnan, Vijayaprakash and Kannada film star Upendra are among the other singers. The dance choreography is as varied, encompassing Kathak, Bharatanatyam, folk and contemporary.
The film traces the life of Kuvempu, dwelling on some major aspects such as his thirst for knowledge, his mastery over Sanskrit, philosophy and the languages, then considered the prerogative of a privileged few, his skills in English poetry and encounter with an Irishman, when he metamorphosed from Puttappa to Kuvempu, to give up English and write only in Kannada, his devotion to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, his rise to an iconic status in the Indian literary world, and his fight against social injustice.
“It was interactive work at its professional best”, is the chorus of those involved in the film. For the first-time producer Aravind Prakash, it was a challenging task too.
“We wanted to create a new genre, and we zeroed in on a person from contemporary history. We wanted to contribute something to Kannada cinema”.
—jyothi@expressbuzz.com