THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Noted film director T.V.Chandran has said that his new film `Bhoomi Malayalam’ is an attempt to unify the nightmares of Malayalee women living in various places at different times.
Addressing a Meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club here on Thursday, Chandran said that the fear was the common factor linking the seven female characters in the film.
All these women see the nightmares in a similar setting. Chandran, in his 13th film, depicts the life of female characters who lived in a time span beginning from 1948 to 2008. There has been no chronological order in the evolution of the film.
The firing incident at Thillankari, near Koothuparampu, leading to the death of a Communist activist Ananthan Master is the first historical reference in the film. It was in 1948 that Ananthan Master marries Meenakshi during his stay in Thillankari. When he goes out in the night to fight against the local chieftain leaving Meenakshi alone fear grips her. While the nightmare envelops her like a shroud she hears the news of Ananthan’s death in police firing. She was pregnant when the incident occurred.
Her daughter Janaki, in her 60, is now a retired teacher. Janaki’s daughter Nirmala also is under the grip of nightmares. She is haunted by the visual of her brother getting killed. Fousia, a bold TV journalist, who interviews Nirmala also reaches to this nightmare. Nirmala’s friend Anni Joseph, an aspiring long jumper, hailing from the High Ranges works hard to emerge as the champion amidst tragic surroundings. She also had nightmarish experiences.
The report of a girl being stamped into slush at Cherthala occurred in 1948 triggers fear in Ancy Varkey, another character though she lives in a time distant from the past. Thus fear proves to be omnipresent. Chandran said that while some of the characters manage to fight the nightmares some fall victims to it.
He said that it was also a commentary on the lack of commitment of the Communist parties of the present times. Even the martyrs’ children are being forced to eke out a living by engaging in manual labour.
Chandran said that it was his duty to do such a film as it was in this murky reality that most of the women live today. His bitter experiences in the past had prompted him to produce the film on his own, he said.
Chandran said that he had been searching for distributors for the past six months. As there was no takers, he had decided to take up the distribution of the film also. Asked about the prevailing crisis in the film industry, Chandran said that he was not a party to it. Instead he would concentrate on his film. Even if the crisis is solved it will help only to produce more substandard films. The film will be screened in 22 centres across the State from Friday, he said.
trivandrum@epmltd.com
