Laugh and make others laugh. Script-writer Krishna Poojappura has been following this principle for long, through his columns in newspapers and magazines, later through serials and now films.
If you ask him whether he draws inspiration from real life, this Sahitya Akademi Award winner says with a chuckle, “Please... I am an ordinary person. All that happens in the case of genius writers...’’
Two successful films in his kitty (‘Ivar Vivahitharaayal’ and ‘Happy Husbands’) and a couple of interesting new projects. Amidst all the glory, Krishna Poojappura comes across as a commoner, both with his looks and words- living in the present, taking life as it comes.
Right now working on the script of Radhakrishnan Mangalath’s (who is shifting from serials to films) ‘Sakudumbam Syamala’ starring Urvashi, Kunchacko Boban, Sai Kumar and Bhama, Krishna Poojappura has a career that started off in 1984, through the articles he wrote for Kerala Kaumudi.
“My father (Parameswaran Thampi) has a fine sense of humour and that has rubbed off on me. He hails from Parassala and I have always felt that people in the border areas like Thucakalai and Nagercoil and the like have a natural sense of humour. I simply love humour and would always love to be with people who have great sense of humour,’’ he says.A recipient of Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2000 and E V Krishnapillai Award (2001) for his work ‘Kalikolam’, a compilation of his articles, he has over 1,000 articles to his credit and is a contributor to Kerala Kaumudi’s eveninger ‘Flash’ every Monday.
It was when the invasion of visual media happened that he took to comedy serials, starting with Viji Thampy’s ‘Mahatma Gandhi Colony’. Now his portfolio reads over 20 serials, mainly comedy works like ‘Indumukhi Chandramathi’, ‘Sathi Leelavathi’, ‘Kudumbapuranam’ and ‘Janakeeyam Janaki.’
Names like Saji Surendran and Anil Nair continued to pop up during the entire interview. When Saji made his entry into films from serials with ‘Ivar Vivahitharaayal’, he had taken his entire serial crew with him, which included Krishna Poojappura and cameraman Anil Nair too.“It was an association which started with the serial ‘Mahatma Gandhi Colony’. Saji was Viji Thampy’s associate then. Saji went on to do serials with serious themes and I went ahead with my comedy serials. And we came together in the serial ‘Ammakkayi’. The thought of making a film was born then,’’ he says.
The duo worked for ‘Ivar...’ and ‘Happy Husbands’ (a remake of Hindi superhit ‘No Entry’, which had a Tamil original ‘Charlie Chaplin’) and will come together for ‘Four Friends’ which will be shot from July onwards. “We share a fine rapport and that comes from a mutual understanding. I can’t write scenes after discussing with director or any other person. He knows that,’’ he says, adding with a grin, “I am a bit lazy and don’t keep the scenes ready. You can say I write them last minute. That’s how I work and people like Saji are used to that...’’Given that it is not easy to make people laugh, how come he has managed so far, especially on-the-location scripts for serials? “See, it is not just literature but my profession too. So, as time passed by, the jokes and humour came out of a habit. Besides, I have a terrific group of friends and associates who are masters in cracking jokes and witty one-liners,’’ he says. In between, he mentioned his colleagues of Factories and Boilers (from where he took leave 10 years ago and is not sure whether he would rejoin!) like Harikumar and Santhosh who have a fine sense of humour.
Also, writing becomes easy when you know the artist, he says. “I have heard that is not the proper way of writing a script. But, I am like this. When I know the artist in advance, I put in that person’s body language, mannerisms, voice modulation etc in the scenes,’’ he says. Besides ‘Sakudumbam Syamala’ and ‘Four Friends’, he will be writing for Boban Samuel’s untitled film with Jayasurya in the lead.
He makes it a point to write clean comedy. “I am against the use of double-meaning or of bad words. It is true that there are certain artists who can’t stop themselves from using certain bad words when they dub and if we try to stop them, that might affect the whole project. Only on such occasions, we have to compromise.’’
Asserting that he would like to write some serious works, he says, “In Saji’s ‘Four Friends’, you will definitely come across heart-warming scenes besides comedy.’’
In spite of the happy outing in the film industry, given a chance, he would do serials again. “I don’t know why, I like serials more than cinema.’’ He firmly believes that those who have made it well in a particular area in the serial industry can easily handle the same area in films too. “I know many experienced and talented people in serial industry, who, given an opportunity, will make it big in films. I am lucky to have got this opening and I hope those directors, script-writers, cameramen too get that break,’’ he says.
He lives in the city with wife Sreelatha and son Unnikrishnan, a BCom student.
m_athira@expressbuzz.com
