Screenwriter of India’s Oscar entry 'Jallikattu' S Hareesh talks about his 'tumultuous journey'

Writer S Hareesh isn’t really comfortable communicating in English and it is his wife Viveka, who patiently turns translator and communicator for the interview with The New Indian Express.
A still from Jallikattu
A still from Jallikattu

The script-writing mind behind India’s entry to the Oscars this year plays the role of an assistant village officer by day in small-town Neendoor in Kerala. “Cinema is not my passion, nor is it my cup of tea. It is somewhere I reached by accident. My interest lies in writing fiction. Cinema is a place where I wish to go only once in a while,” says S Hareesh, whose 2018 short story Maoist has been turned into Jallikattu, directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery. In fact, it has been a season of accolades for Hareesh. He recently bagged the Rs 25-lakh JCB Prize for Literature for the English translation of his debut novel Meesha—titled Moustache. The writer isn’t really comfortable communicating in English. It is his wife Viveka, who patiently turns translator and communicator for the interview.

Maoist had created a huge controversy in Kerala when it was released. In fact, the writer had to withdraw it from a weekly, which was serialising it, after receiving threats. Ask him how he adapted the controversial read for the screen and the writer says, “Kerala has got a lot of butcher shops and we keep hearing about buffaloes which escape, causing a lot of problems for the people. There is also a proverb which says that the rampage caused by a buffalo is more dangerous than the rampage which an elephant causes. Similar incidents became the inspiration for Maoist. For the film, I changed the story according to the cinematic vision. In the novel there is more emphasis on satire, while for the script stress was laid on the chaos of the mob. There is also a significant difference: in the novel, there is a buffalo and an Indian bison, while in the film there is only the Indian bison.”

It seems Hareesh has a special knack for attracting controversy. Following the publication of the JCB Prize-winning Meesha, he was met with insults and threats on social media. “But it was due to the support of the secular forces of Kerala—both from the government and eminent personalities—that I could overcome the threats. I knew that the only way out was by not giving importance to them,” he says, adding that winning the prestigious JCB Prize for the book also helped in a better understanding of it. For someone who has written extensively on caste, he believes the caste system is a pan-India problem. “Political parties determine their candidates for the election based on caste, and most of the people in Kerala also vote based on the caste of the candidate. On the inside, caste is a controlling factor everywhere,” he says.

With the twin honours of Jallikattu headed to the Oscars and the JCB Prize is he prepared for the inevitable fan frenzy? The writer laughs, “I don’t have too many fans. But for the ones who do love me, the news of the two awards brought a lot of joy and excitement. Even during the controversy my friends stood with me.” With the final celebration of Moustache in the literary arena, Hareesh’s friends came up with a unique way to commemorate it. The story is set in a village very much like Hareesh’s. After the JCB Prize announcement, his friends conducted a gathering in a paddy field near the writer’s place and played out a part from the book. “I thoroughly enjoyed it,” says Hareesh. Here’s more to such celebrations.  

In a nutshell

Jallikattu refers to the traditional event of running bulls. The film is not about the sport itself, rather about the chaos that ensues when a water buffalo escapes a butcher’s hands. The whole village tries to catch it and it brings out man’s own bestial side. It is the third Malayalam film after Guru (1997) and Adaminte Makan Abu (2011) to represent India at the Oscars.

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