KOCHI: Can an investor, whose dreams have been shattered by the economic recession, be inspired by the poems of the great philosopher?
‘Yathi - The pause in between ’, a movie by a group of enterprising film buffs, under the banner ‘Theatre Lab,’ portrays the struggle of a real-estate investor for survival during economic recession along with his quest for inner peace.
A real life story with no melodrama or gimmicks, the 80-minute movie is an independent Malayalam venture by the students of the Bharat Murali’s Koothambalam Film and Theatre Institute in Dubai. All the actors are from the Platform theatre group, and it has been shot entirely in Dubai.
The story is about the protagonist Naren’s efforts to survive the global economic recession of 2009 which shatters his dreams of selling a man-made island to believers of Indian astrology. Naren is left penniless after investors abandon his dream project of building a gem-studded city on the island. Facing prison for bank loan defaults and overstaying his visa, Naren starts drinking heavily and abuses his family. He makes a suicide attempt, but turns back in the last minute after he sees a mystic man, who reminds him of his loving family and the superficial nature of wealth.
He eventually manages to land another job - as a bank manager assigned with the task of terminating the services of at least 20 employees a day. Naren meets the job target so well that he’s told “there’s no one left to terminate you but you”. Back to square one - and drowning in guilt - Naren is struck by a nervous breakdown.
In a dreamlike state, the visions return and unravel the secrets of an ancient Indian poem that happens to be the theme of a treasure hunt challenge in Dubai worth Dh 1 million.
Having learnt the lessons of life the hard way, Naren “breaks the code” of the contest and wins the cash prize and spends the six figure bonanza to settle his debts and help out former colleagues.
Says director Satheesh Kumar MK, an engineer in the shipping industry - “As the title denotes, the film tries to focus on the pause in between. The first act is a strong emotional footprint about the breaking of all hopes under credit crunch. The third act is the guilt of a new age hangman. The film evolves in the second act when the self searching journey begins.
“Is life to be remembered as good and bad experiences? Or, are the pauses between two experiences or even mere thoughts to be celebrated, like the music which exists in the pause between two notes?” he asks.
The film connects the issues of economic meltdown to the search for spiritual meaning, using 'Daivadasakam' , the poems of Sree Narayana Guru.
A new star cast, a debut director, and a first-time cameraman and music composer enter the arena together to offer some worthy fare in ‘Yathi’. However, the film is an estimable exercise.
“We didn’t have the technology or funding, so we focused on the art itself,” says Sathish Kumar. “We wanted to see what we could do with just a video camera and no special effects or stars. Even a 10-year-old will get something out of it. It is difficult to market this kind of parallel cinema - between art and commercial genres. Film distributors don’t support these kinds of projects,” he adds.
“We have tried to make a social interference, not an entertaining commercial movie.
"The film's background is the Gulf countries. No other background can better portray the current issues faced by the capitalist economies. The movie follows the day-to-day events in a family, which effectively symbolises the economic meltdown.
"In an expatriate land, where employment is the linchpin of one’s existence, one who boots out somebody from his job is like a hangman. The camera captures the deserts, windy mountains and rocky valleys of Hatta on the UAE-Oman border blending modern technology with the Bedouin history."
The script and the second unit camera work has been done by Santhosh Karthikeyan. Khader Dimbright has done the first unit camera work.The well edited movie owes its credit to Padmanabhan, the editor. Anjan has done the music composing.
The Kerala premier of 'Yathi' is scheduled on August 1 at Maharaja’s College Auditorium.