KOCHI: Imagine a person at a particular point of his life standing helpless, with a thousand fingers pointed right at him and scared to make the next move - a situation comparable to the helplessness of an animal waiting to be slaughtered.
T A Razzaq, the scriptwriter who passed away the other day, always crafted the helplessness of such scapegoats cleverly into his scripts. The dosage may have been different, but he always liked to portray the emotions of the helpless and the predicament of the displaced.
Having started his career as an assistant director, Razzaq switched to screenplay writing in 1991 with Mohanalal-starrer 'Vishnulokam' directed by Kamal. The 'golden 80s' of Malayalam cinema witnessed the presence of some highly successful writers who scripted commercially and critically acclaimed movies.
It was at a time when big names such as the legendary M T Vasudevan Nair, A K Lohithadas, Dennis Joseph and Kaloor Dennis were ruling with different genres of movies that Razzaq made his debut. Of course, it was not easy for a beginner to make a mark in such a situation. But, he was lucky to enter the big league with a superstar movie. Razzaq was also fortunate enough to associate with another superstar movie - Anaswaram directed by Jomon soon. It was followed by Nadodi (1992) Bhoomigeetham (1993), Ghazal (1993) and Karma (1995). The 1996 movie Kanakkinavu, directed by Sibi Malayil, drew the attention of critics, and the movie was highly praised for the social relevance of its theme.
"Human virtue, which is now disappearing from society, was Razzaq's favourite theme. He always tried to depict the helplessness of the man exploited by society for the virtues that he holds," remembers director V M Vinu. Most of the protagonists in Razzaq's works reflect his own characteristics. To be precise, we can see 'Razzaq' in his characters. "His experiences, the situations he faced, his friends and all those characters from real life became a part of his script. That's why we can see 'life' in his scripts," added Vinu who has directed Vesham, Bus Conductor and Penpattanam were based on Razzaq's scripts. (The story of Penpattanam was by Ranjith).
"Once, after doing Vesham, Razzaq told me about an incident. It was the depressing image of a small boy standing in front of the 'khabarsthan' of his father soon after the burial. He was crying and soon realised how big his responsibility was. 'He will have to now look after his family,' and that feeling of responsibility overpowered his sadness.
"And that boy was me," Razzaq told me. I listened to his story and that is how 'Bus Conductor' was born," Vinu reminisced. Delving deep into his own life, searching there and finding something that could be developed into cinema - that was Razzaq's style. "That's why the situations in his films stay so close to real life," Vinu added.