KOCHI(KERALA): Veteran producer-director Navodaya Appachan, who pioneered a new genre of movies in the Malayalam filmdom, passed away in a private hospital here on Monday. He was 81. Appachan was suffering from old age ailments.
Appachan, whose real name was Maliampurackal Chacko Punnoose, was born in Alappuzha. He was the producer of ‘Thacholi Ambu’ the first cinemascope film in South India, ‘Padayottam’, the first 70 mm film in South India and ‘My Dear Kuttichathan’, the first 3D movie made in India.
Founder of Navodaya Studio, he has produced more than 100 films including Manjil Virinja Pookkal, Kadathanatt Makkam and Mamangam under the Navodaya and Udaya production houses. He was hospitalised on April 18. On Monday he was shifted to Surgical ICU after his condition deteriorated.
Cardinal George Alancherry visited Appachan prior to his death. Defence Minister A K Antony, actor and Appachan’s nephew Kunchako Boban and others from the film fraternity paid their last respect at the hospital. The body will be kept for the public to pay homage at Ernakulam Town Hall on Tuesday from 11 am to 6 pm.
The funeral will be held at Assumption Church cemetery, Darkas village near Thambaram in Chennai on Wednesday.
A Pioneer with the midas touch
Be it Mohanlal or three-dimensional cinema, they sounded queer to Malayalees before their rendezvous with Maliampurackal Chacko Punnoose, as most of them have turned into the familiar names now. He brought many persons and techniques, all new to Malayalam cinema to change its face literally. Though he did not act any films, Appachan was the real superstar if one count the number of fresh talents he infused into its stream. He was sharp enough to find out talents from nowhere. This is evident from the words of T K Rajeevkumar who directed Chanakyan (1989) the last film which came out under the prestigious banner Navodaya.
“I was asked to meet him after ad film maker Mathew Paul told him about my mono act performance at Muhamma, Alappuzha. If the meeting itself was a miracle, there was a bigger miracle in waiting. He handed over to me the glasses for three dimensional cinema. Thus I started as an assistant to Jijo in ‘My dear Kuttichathan’, India’s first 3 D film. He was brave enough to give me a film with a novel subject and Kamal Hasan, five years later, ” he said.
This was true to ‘Padayottam’, the first indigenously-made 70 mm film, ‘Thacholi ambu’, the first cinemascope film of south India, or ‘Manjil virinja pookal’, a film experimented with all freshers from director, hero, heroine, villain, music director. The success of the film changed the course of Malayalam cinema as Mohanlal, who played the villain role in that film, later earned many laurels as hero and film director Fazil went on to make many success stories in south India, while men from his school mesmerised Bollywood. This list include Priyadarsan and Siddique who became hot properties there.
Box office hits from Navodaya were no flukes as it came out of meticulous planning right from production to distribution. He produced child-centric films like ‘Ente Mamattukuttyammakku’ which made Baby Shalini a darling of south India in no time. He later tried the same in ‘Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare’, which is now a study materiel in film institutes.
Film personalities like Siby Malayil, Reghunath Paleri, Jerry Amaldev, Mohan Sithara and Venugopal all have a Navodaya brand.
Appachan was more than a producer when he took the initiative to complete the second 70mm made in Malayalam ‘Kadathanadan Ambady’ or arranged a theatrical release for much acclaimed film Piravi.
A man of many innovations
It was Navodaya Appachan who introduced talents like director Fazil, actor Mohanlal, Shankar and music director Jerry Amaldev through Manjil Virinja Pookkal. In 1985, he produced Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare, the first directorial venture of scriptwriter Reghunath Paleri. He introduced music director Mohan Sitara, singer G Venugopal and actors Geethu Mohandas and Asha Jayaram. He always stood for innovations. Chanakyan, the last film produced by him in 1989 was also directed by a debutante director T K Rajeev Kumar. Navodaya Appachan is also the creator of Bible Ki Kahaniya for Doordarshan. He is also the founder of Kishkinta, India’s first theme park in Chennai. My Dear Kuttichathan was released to much fanfare in 1984. A big hit among the younger generation, the use of 3D spectacles to view the film added to the charm.
The genius who created ‘Kuttichathan’
‘’Don’t make me sad, you must come.’’ This is what Navodaya Appachan told advocate Ramnath (Master Aravind) the last time the young star of the landmark film My Dear Kuttichathan met the former.
Master Aravind, then 11, who played the nostalgic role of ‘Kuttichathan’ is an advocate at the Kerala High Court.
Appachan recalled this when he invited Aravind for a function at the re-release of the film in 2011.
“At first, I refused to attend. But he insisted that I should attend and he himself picked me up from my home.
He owed his part in the epoch-making film to the late producer’s influence.
‘’If there wasn’t a person like Appachan, I would not have been in such a great film which is part of the Indian film history. Even after 30 years of the release of that film, I am often introduced as ‘Kuttichathan.’ That is the charm that the character and the film exercised in the minds of the people. I have only fond memories of him,’’ Aravind said.
It was Appachan who insisted that Aravind should play the role of ‘Kuttichathan’.
“Since I had acted in two films prior to Kuttichathan, I was overburdened with publicity as a child actor and I did not want to act any more. When he contacted my parents, I resisted.
“But he tactfully foiled my attempts to escape from acting. Finally, I played a trick and said that I had annual exams.
“He contacted the management of my school and got permission to take me to the location,’’ reminisced Aravind.
Ahead of his times: Fazil
‘Manjil Virinja Pookkal’, released in 1980 and hailed as one of the landmark movies in Malayalam, was a brainchild of Navodaya Appachan.
Not only for the whiff of freshness that it brought to an industry that was churning out remakes of action flicks from other languages, but also for introducing a number of talents, who eventually took the industry by storm, the movie stood out.
It was the farsightedness and the ability to feel the pulse of the industry of producer Appachan that handed out three talented artists to the Malayalam industry; actor Mohanlal, director Fazil and composer Jerry Amaldev.
Notably, Appachan took the risk of fielding a bunch of newcomers and giving the nod to a novel theme at a time when the concept of New-Gen movies was something unheard of in the local industry. “Nowadays, everybody goes gaga over New-Gen films. But let me humbly remind them that it was this great man who first thought of bringing a considerable change into the industry through new wave film making,” said Fazil.
Both Appachan and Fazil hail from Alappuzha. “We were in touch with each other since mid-1970s, as we were film buffs. Helming a film with him was an unforgettable experiment. He also paved way for the entry of filmmakers like T K Rajeev Kumar and many others. At a time when the idea of posting production controllers and production executives were not known to Malayalam film world, he came up with innovative ideas,” said Fazil. He said that Appachan always thought ahead of times. “The same innovative spirit helped him in producing the first Cinemascope, 70-mm and 3D movies in Malayalam,” he added.“He always stayed away from controversies, and was open to new ideas,” added Fazil.
The camera that captured a star
“A movie that introduces a new face should be shot using a new camera.” This was the thought that made Navodaya Appachan fly all the way to Germany to get the best camera of the time, Arri 2C, for his movie ‘Manjil Virinja Pookkal’, 1980, that introduced the actor Mohanlal to the world.
Though the years passed by, Appachan kept the camera safely, as though, knowing that it had a purpose. Around four months back, Mohanlal, who had been to Navodaya Studios for a shooting, met Appachan and asked whether he could buy the camera with which his first movie was shot.
After that, the actor forgot about the request but Appachan did not. He kept reminding Mohanlal about his request and on March 28, 2012, Appachan gifted the Arri 2C to Mohanlal’s camera collection.
“This is like a treasure to me,” said a wide-eyed Mohanlal. “I feel overwhelmed with joy and pride. I can feel myself growing younger now,” Appachan reciprocated.