Nostalgia is what gives Sohan Lal a kick.
The musty smell, the dust and the cobwebs that hold within them myriad colourful memories, they get him going at full steam. Sohan is on his second nostalgia trip with the film Orkkuka Vallapozhum which will hit theatres on Friday.
His first movie, and a very successful one at that, was Neermaathalathinte Pookkal based on a story by Madhavikkutty, a story from her childhood about her special relationship with her grandmother. “Well, I had planned a trilogy, the second of which is the present film,” said Sohan, whose telefilm got him a number of awards.
Ask Sohan about the third film, and he just gives his characteristic dimpled smile.
Orkkuka Vallapozhum is about Sethumadhavan’s journey back to his past, featuring the bungalow where he lived and the British School where his father was a teacher. But more importantly, the film is about his longing for his heart-throb, Paru. The theme is old, but Sohan’s treatment is interesting, with the protagonist being a silent observer of all the events which unfold from the present. “There are times when he even interacts with the character,” says Sohan.
This was a challenge not just to Sohan but to cameraman M J Radhakrishnan too. “We had decided to use a sober tone to depict the present and a very colourful one for the past with its happy memories. But then when it came to the scenes that inter-crossed, with both the past and the protagonist in the present, it became a tough proposition,” recalls Sohan.
Even the bungalow had to be set to two different time periods, one in the pre-Independence era and another over six decades later. It was after Independence that Sethumadhavan’s father lost his job and they moved out of the British bungalow, the epitome of his boyhood and adolescence.
But Sohan Lal is a happy man, the film having come out pretty much the way he had conceived it. “Thilakan’s acting and dubbing were truly the high points. Though he is known to be difficult, with us he was extremely co-operative. We also made sure that he was not inconvenienced without reason,” he says. Sethu’s character is portrayed in three periods of time, his boyhood portrayed by Dhananjay of Guruvayoorappan fame and as a young man by Rajat Menon.
Sohan was also particularly happy with Radhakrishnan’s excellent cinematography, M Jayachandran’s music and Ramesh Narayanan’s background score. The music gels well with the theme. The title song is a tribute to P Bhaskaran, the songs Aa Raavil, Enthinaamizhi and Tamarapookkalum being tributes to Changampuzha Krishnapillai, Olappamanna Subramanian Namboothiri and Vayalar Ramavarma respectively.
The song Mampoopadam has such an old world charm about it that you almost expect Prem Nazeer and Sheela to drop out of the screen as in Kananachayayil adumeykkan....
“Actually it was Bhaskaran mash’s poem Orkukka vallappozhum that inspired me to do the film,” says Sohan. The film was shot in the high ranges of the state, mostly the picturesque locations of Kuttikanam and Vagamon, in approximately 23 days. The art direction is by Jayashanker Ezhuthavoor. The script is by Sohan himself, lyrics by Girish Puthencheri, editing by Vijayakumar and production by Vinu Y S. The cast also includes Jagadeesh, Krishnachandran, Chali Pala, Shilpabala, Meera Vasudev, Bindu Varappuzha and Baby Malavika.
Ask Sohan what is the best, the very best part about the film and you get to see that dimpled smile again. It slowly turns mischievous as he points to himself. “Hey, don’t write that down, okay,” he yells. And we promised that we would not!!!
reema_narendran@epmltd.com