When Shyamaprasad makes movies the way he wants them to be, it’s not as if he doesn’t understand the dynamics of the box office. He knows Malayalam cinema is dithering between Kollywood pyrotechnics and super-heroism, but he will still use stars — that is, if they fit in. For he knows cinema is ultimately about getting your money’s worth, but he does believes in “adding compassion” to his craft and “not just do shallow entertainment”. By all accounts, in Malayalam cinema, Shyamaprasad stands out for his no-nonsense and rational approach to the art.
His 2007-released Ore Kadal , which won the National Award for the best regional film announced recently, is characteristic of his style: deep, complex and starkly humane. Adapted from Sunil Gangopadhyay’s Bengali novel Hirak Deepti , the movie depicts the complex relationship between a radical intellectual economist (Mammootty) and a middle-class housewife (Meera Jasmine).
The director once again employs an evocative style and imagery that transcend realism, whose nuances are similar to chamber music. Narrated with a touching candour and refinement, it stops just short of being preachy. “I didn’t want to sound holier-than-thou by giving a message,” shrugs Shyamaprasad. “I thought, maybe, a cross-section of the people might like to find the answers themselves. Besides, I know the audiences are intelligent enough to come to their own conclusions.”
From the time he read the novel and began vacillating between scriptwriters and then mulling over the cast, Ore Kadal took him roughly two years to make. He admits bringing Mammootty into the film really changed its course, considering the theme. “It had anyway a very strong hero — and heroine. The story really blew me up. I wasn’t really bothered about the commercial value. I just wanted to make this movie,” he notes. Apart from the script and casting, the film’s music (by Ousepachan, who won the national award for the best score) remains one of its high points. “True,” says Shyamaprasad, “I gave this idea of binding the music to the movie and suggested using the raga Sivaranjani for all the songs.”
Regarding the adult theme in Ore Kadal, the 49-year-old director begs to differ. “We are so much tamer these days. I thought the ’70s depicted more adult themes. Can you imagine a Nirmalyam or Punarjanman being made today? Or, our stars enacting them? At least I don’t sensationalise such subjects.” As for handling stars, he says it has its own challenges and rewards. “With Mammootty and Meera, I had to schedule everything as per their convenience and image,” he says.
As a maker, he has always generously borrowed from literature. His third film, Akale (2004) that focuses on an Anglo-Indian family in disarray, is inspired by the Tennessee Williams classic, The Glass Menagerie. Agnisakshi (1999) is based on late Malayalam writer Lalithambika Antharjanam’s novel of the same name. Be it Kallu Kondoru Pennu (1998), Agnisakshi or Akale , his heroines are distinctively real. They react, revolt and yet show weaknesses. They aren’t just for as the hero’s arm candy. “It’s a male-dominated society and industry where roles are invariably written for heroes. Heroines are mere ornamental pieces. She is either a wife or mother…or sister. That’s really absurd. I think this world is more exciting for a woman than a man. Where can you find so much complexities, emotions or challenges than in her?” he asks. True, it’s the same conflict of emotions that makes us feel strongly for both Bela and Deepti in Ore Kadal . If one lives a guileless life as a high-paying call girl, the latter goes into mental depression on the same moral grounds.
For a director who flinches from hyperbole, Prasad feels he has been branded as someone who makes sensationally disturbing movies. “It’s rather far-fetched really, also it is not my intention. I can’t do underworld movies because I don’t know about dons and henchman or their world. Nor can I make films about super-heroes because I don’t relate to them. Why should anyone be totally black? You can find some goodness in anyone. I believe if I can bring in a tiny bit of compassion in you through my films, then I am happy,” he reasons.
The talk veers towards Malayalam cinema, about the superstar domination, lack of good scripts. Is Malayalam cinema truly in bad shape? “Yes. It’s under the shadow of stars only because our directors have no integrity. I can’t think of a single Malayalam film in the last two years that is worth mentioning. We should learn to differentiate between art film and filmy art films.”
His current movie Ritu , about young IT professionals, is getting mixed reviews. “That world is not represented in our films. They are mostly depicted as carrying laptops or wearing business suits. I went deeper,” he says. Immedietly after Ritu, he did a short film, Off Season , which is part of Kerala Cafe, a film conceived by a team of 10 directors, each presenting one’s cinematic impression of contemporary times in their state. His next project is in the pipeline. All he’d say for now is that it’s based on Greek mythology, Electra, and stars Nayantara and Arya.
An ardent admirer of Krzysztof Kieslowski (Trilogies — Red, Blue and White ), Woody Allen and Francesco Coppola, Prasad by his own admission is a “dropout from several schools of filmmaking”. So what’s his ideal cinema? “For me, just like it is with everyone when I encounter greatness, it should linger on, the images should last in your head, the light-headed feeling when leaving the theatre, being speechless and finally watching it again and again…”
— neelkmenon@gmail.com