Some filmmakers use a single-take for the sake of it. For a regular viewer, the first reaction would be, “Whoa! That looks fancy.” But once the fanciness wears off, one begins to ponder its relevance. There are a few single takes in Amal Prasi’s Baakki Vannavar, but they have nothing fancy about them. And not since Don Palathara’s Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam have I seen stationary shots done so neatly. It is stripped-down, bare-essential filmmaking at its finest.
Baakki Vannavar is the sort of film where the reason for every shot choice is clear as daylight. When you’ve been bombarded, of late, with many films with rapid cuts that pander to an attention-deficit crowd, something like Baakki Vannavar arrives like a breath of fresh air. Amal echoes the same sentiment. “Look, we all lead mundane lives, and the film’s overall style reflects that,” he says.
There are two notable examples in Baakki Vannavar. One is an interview situation. The discomfort and intimidation experienced by leading man Salmanul, as he is continually probed by the HR manager, are palpable. In another scene, what begins as a comment on someone’s reading habit morphs into a loud, full-fledged debate on grating unemployement issues in the country.
Were these scripted or improvised? “We didn’t give them proper dialogues; we just conveyed to them what exactly we needed,” says Amal, who gave the actors ample time to deliver the dialogues, provided they encapsulated the intended message. Amal did three takes, out of which he picked the best one. “It helps to have immensely supportive actors, some of whom are our friends who have been with us since the film’s inception and pre-production stage. So, they knew what we were going for.”
And when a filmmaker like Rajeev Ravi attaches his name to it as a backer, it goes without saying the film will possess a strong political voice. But, thankfully, Baakki Vannavar gets its messages across without nary a hint of preachiness. However, Amal finds it strange when people expect to know a filmmaker’s stand on the issues reflected in the film.
“In that scene where they debate the lack of opportunities, some curious folks asked us, ‘Whose side are you on?’ Why is it necessary for the filmmaker to take a side? We are merely presenting a situation as it is. The debate has limitations and merits, but the debaters fail to reach a correct solution. The whole thing operates like a loop and looks like a pseudo-debate. When Salmanul and I wrote it, we were thinking of how people in these characters’ age groups would talk, and we depicted just that. A filmmaker or writer need not be a mouthpiece via their characters. That’s not what I want. The intent was to capture the desperation of students in the 20-24 age bracket.”
Former students of Maharajas College, Ernakulam, Amal and Salmanul deserve a pat on the back for their even-handed tackling of the film’s politics, particularly noticeable in representing a character hailing from a tribal community. This character, Aneghan, named after the actor who plays him, talks about resorting to farming after all options fail. He is angry, just like everyone else; he presents his points in a manner that’s at once sober and funny, owing to his expression of angst in the form of heavily profane lines that register a comical and cathartic effect.
Again, Amal had to deal with an irked audience member who questioned the inclusion of farming in the dialogue “as though it were a lowly trade.” “What can I say to a reaction like that?” asks Amal. “Everything in the film is based on real-life experiences, including that of Aneghan, who was my college senior. That line about farming came out of frustration. After completing his post-graduation, he couldn’t get a job and experienced some adversities. A man like that would surely be yearning for a better way of life, no?”
Like their storytelling style, the Baakki Vannavar team’s filmmaking process is admirably simple too. They shot in real locations in Kochi and primarily the Maharajas College hostel. The only constant members of the principal crew were Amal, Salman and cinematographer Rahim Ibn Rasheed (another college senior of Amal). And as the usage of sound was minimal, they managed to handle it without outside help. And considering their limited budget, using musical instruments was out of the question. The music was all programmed. The entire production got completed in 7-8 days.
As for the version readied for the big screen, the team managed to tinker with the basic version they screened at the edition of IFFK to pristine quality after the intervention of filmmaker Rajeev Ravi, who was impressed with the film. “It was Rajeev ettan who put us in touch with Liju Prabhakar (colourist) and Tapas Nayak (sound mixing),” adds Amal.
As of now, the team has completed two packed independent screenings in Kochi, which saw the attendance of Rajeev Ravi, Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran, among others. An OTT premiere possibility is yet to be discussed.