KUMBALANGI NIGHTS – A Memory

This is NOT a review about the Malayalam Film KUMBALANGI NIGHTS (2019) , but about a film shot in KUMBALANGI !

Twenty years back Kumbalangi was an unknown sleepy marshy backwater village on the outskirts of Ernakulam. I came to know about such a place when a went to shoot Director Shyama Prasad’s debut feature film “KALLUKONNDORU PENNU” (1998), Produced by Jayakumar of BHAVACHITRA. It was the story of a nurse during the Kuwait war, the story of which was written by S.L.Puram Sadanandan and the Dialogues were by T.A.Razaque and Sasidharan Aarattuvazhy. The formidable cast included Suresh Gopi , Dileep, Murali, Rajan P Dev and Vijaya Shanthi in the title role. Since the film was shot in Kuwait and Kerala in many schedules it was difficult organize the dates of technicians accordingly. Since the original Cinematographer P.Sukumar was busy I took over and later on Salu George and Saroj Padhy respectively.

Coming back to Kumbalingi, the selected house for the Heroine was near the back waters and we had to walk for some distance from the road through swamps and water logged fields carrying our equipments. We had a long night’s shoot ahead. To create wind effect we have brought from Trivandrum a locally made wind machine, which was basically a big electric motor fitted with huge aluminum fan blades . There was also a protective metal grill for that contraption. It usually makes more sound than wind. That particular night at Kumbalangi, there was a huge crowd to witness the shooting as Dileep, Vijaya Shanthi, Murali and others were participating in the shoot. Since the wind machine was not producing enough power it was dismantled and fitted again. When the motor was started suddenly one of the blades had hit the metal cage, got broken and the piece flew away high in the darkness. Fortunately none in the crowd or crew were hurt. We could not find the broken piece anywhere nearby in the dark surrounding area. Only in the next morning it was found embedded at the top trunk of a coconut palm tree about half a kilo meter away.

Since the wind machine was out of use, we proceeded with the scene to be taken. It was a shot of Dileep’s character Venu’s dead body being brought to the house carried on a stretcher. I have lighted up the area and kept my camera on a trolley. Dileep got into position lying on a stretcher with cotton wool stuffed in his nose. As the shot was about to be taken one local drunkard came and stood before the camera. He refused to leave in spite of onlookers pleading with him. Then he started moving towards the camera and tried to get hold of it. I warned him not to play with it. Suddenly he lunged at me and pulled my spectacles which was hanging on a neck strap. On seeing that others got hold of him and a big scuffle erupted. Some persons belonging to his group threw stones. Fearing that lighting equipment may get damaged they were switched off. In total darkness only shouts and the sound of breaking things were heard. People ran in all directions. Somehow we all managed to reach our vehicles wading through the mud missing the path in the darkness.

Finally all of us reached the safety of Kavitha Hotel at Chitoor road and were sitting in the lobby sharing our bad experience. Then some more vehicles came in and out emerged members from another film unit. It was Jayakumar’s brother Seven Arts Vijayakumar’s Joshiy directed film LELAM’s crew members. Jayanan Vincent was working as Cinematographer for that schedule. He told us that they were shooting some stunt scene in Kakkanad area. The crowds there were uncontrollable. During one of the action scenes a jeep driven by a stunt man had grazed some onlooker and a fight erupted. Ultimately they had had to wind up the shooting and escaped. It was really a coincidence that crowd trouble had caused disturbances in both the brothers’ shooting on the same night.

Of course with necessary security we completed the rest of the shooting in the same house at Kumbalangi.

Years later in 2011, I had visited Kumbalangi for the script reading of T.V.Chandran’s SANKARANUM MOHANANUM and stayed in a resort near the backwaters with a view to the railway bridge. I saw some locations too, but ultimately I could not work in the film due to personal commitments. In the few days I stayed there, I found that the place had developed a lot and had become a tourist destination. Now that the film KUMBALANGI NIGHTS had become an artistic and popular hit, the name KUMBALAGI had become more famous from its earlier Infamous origins!

Girl with Four Legs

A BBC News item under Entertainment & Arts dated  26 January 2018  entitled "VanityFair gives Oprah and Reese Witherspoon extra limbs" brought to my mind an incident that happened to me  a few years back. The BBC article  is as follows:

Reese Witherspoon has asked fans to accept her for who she is - after Vanity Fair's latest cover revealed her to have a secret third leg.

She's one of 12 film stars photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the magazine's Hollywood issue, which is published every year during awards season.

Vanity Fair said the appearance of Witherspoon's third leg was, in fact, "the lining of her dress".

Coming back to my Four legged Girl, it is still a mystery of how it happened. While visiting Goa in 2013,  I had been to the famous  SHRI MANGESHI Temple at Ponda..

SHRI MANGESHI TEMPLE, PONDA

The Temple had a unique blend of Indian and Portuguese Architecture  and I have been taking some photographs of the temple. I was intrigued by the Kerala style tiled roof entrance to the temple and took a wide shot of it with my camera.

Entrance to the Temple

Suddenly a young girl sitting in the shadows of the building  rushed towards me and demanded what I was photographing. She had thought that I was photographing her. I showed her the photos I had taken  and she was convinced that I was actually photographing the Building. In fact, I was standing quite far and had taken the above  picture using a  compact  Point and shoot camera set in Auto Mode. Still I was puzzled by the strange behaviour of the girl.

I returned back home to Kerala and while going through the photos in my computer, I remembered the incident and enlarged the image and I was shocked and surprised to find this lurking in the shadows :

 Four Legged Girl on the Left

The Girl sitting on the left seems to have  Four Legs....

I think that while I was taking the Photo she was sitting with her legs wide apart and had had crossed her legs just  at the instant I clicked. That is why she had panicked and came to check my photo.  I am really puzzled as to how this got registered in a Single exposure by the camera. Since it was bright sunlight the shutter speed must have been high enough to freeze any movement.If the shutter had been slow the moving legs should have appeared as a blur. But here the image of the legs are sharp and clear. This is not a PHOTO SHOPPED picture..

Can any one explain how this had happened. I  had used a an old 10.3 MP Kodak Point and Shoot camera.

Kodak 10.3 MP  Camera

Bored to Death by spin bowling in a Test Cricket Match

Though I am a fan of cricket from my school days, I rarely had the opportunity to watch an International Cricket match live from the stands in the ground.  Back in those days there was no Television and only 5 Day Test Matches, which were played in big cities like Delhi, Calcutta, Madras etc which are called Test centres.  That left us glued to our Transistor Radios to listen to the All India Radio running commentary to follow the match. In the 1960’s Test cricket had become less popular, because of uninspiring captaincy and a safety-first approach to the game. Teams played for a draw rather than try to win a match.

It was while studying in Madras Loyola College that I got my first opportunity to watch a Test match live. The First Test match between England and India  under the captaincy of legendary Nawab of Pataudi was being played  at the Nehru Stadium, Egmore  from 10 th January  1964 to 16 th January with a day of rest in between. England toured India for what was by the standards of the time a whistle-stop seven-week five-Test series. After two warm-up matches, England arrived in Madras for the first Test, ready for what was expected to be a battle between spinners and the bat, so much so their team had only one fast bowler.

Since the Test match coincided with the Pongal Holidays, I was keen on going to the match, but Five day season tickets were very expensive and hard to get. Huge crowds jostled in the ticket counters just to get into the galleries, which were issued on a daily basis. Some early birders even slept overnight at ticket counters to get the tickets first!  I was wondering how will able to get in and watch the match and resigned to hear the commentary on the radio. But my more experienced mates had a strategy to get the tickets. Some of them will go early in the morning to stand in the “Queue” armed with bed sheets. As soon as they enter they will reserve seats for others by spreading them in strategic places on the cement galleries. Meanwhile another batch will arrive with food packets for breakfast and lunch supplied from the Hostel Mess. Jointly as a big group they had a field day enjoying the match.

On the first day, the Nawab of Pataudi, India's captain, won the toss and batted, and a crowd of Thirty thousand  left happy as India closed on 277 for 2, with opener Budhi Kunderan making 170 not out. The next day India moved on to 457 for 7 ( Wicket Keeper Kunderan dismissed for a career-best 192) before declaring 90 minutes before the close of the second day, and England reached 63 for 2 by stumps. I was very much excited by India’s high scoring innings and envied my friends who had watched the game in the stadium. I decided to join them at any cost to witness this Test match.  Fortunately, next day I got my place in the late comers’ group which hauled the food stuff as more healthy individuals were deputed to battle the crowds at the gates.

So on January 12, 1964, I got the opportunity to watch a Test match in person. The Nehru stadium was fully packed with enthusiastic crowds making all kinds of noises with bells, plates, drums, horns etc. The match starts at 9.30 A.M. and the impatient crowds welcomed the umpires entering the pitch with a huge applause. In those days jumping barricades and invading the Pitch was common and so a lot of police personnel were posted around the ground  to prevent this. They had to be alert and constantly watch the spectators for any misdeeds. At times they get carried away by some spectacular shot hit by one of the players and turn to see  it for a moment. The instant they turn their backs, is an opportunity for the crowds to pelt them with paper balls and fruit peels and have some harmless fun.

The English side was already suffering from the perennial problems associated with an Indian tour, mainly with food.  Micky Stewart was indisposed with upset stomach and high temperature. Before England started their innings, Jim Parks joined him on the sick list. On the Third day, Fred Titmus and Barry Knight were also feeling unwell. Parks and Stewart had stayed in their beds at the hotel, with a car stationed to get the latter to the ground in desperate situation.

Our slow pitches were prepared to aid the spinners and it started showing signs of wear and tear by the third day.  The Englishmen decided that they would stonewall their way to guard the sick and ailing team members. Only night-watchman Don Wilson showed some enterprise, as he did not fancy his chances of batting through the day. It was mainly due to his 42 that the first session was mildly watchable. But, when Wilson was dismissed, Ken Barrington joined Brian Bolus, launching a partnership which would bring time to a standstill and freeze the scoreboard.

 

Bapu Nadkarni in action

After lunch Nadkarni came on , rolling his arm over again and again, his deliveries slow and flat, and landing on an imaginary coin on the pitch with nagging accuracy and slight turn. Ken Barrington and Brian Bolus could do little but pat them back along the pitch. From the other end, Borde kept sending down his leg breaks. Ball after ball was blocked or patted away. The first run after lunch came in the 12th over, stirring some of the spectators awake with the by then unusual sight of two batsmen crossing over. By the end of the first hour, lethargy had seeped into the veins of all the batsmen, fielders and – most of all – the scorers. Only the two bowlers kept coming in, briskly running the few steps and sending them down.

We spectators were utterly bored by the happenings at the pitch and started booing and clapping for every ball. Even a rhythmic chorus of “Barrington …Bore…Bore.” ……. “Barrington …Bore…Bore.” had not no effect on the batsmen. In fact Barrington seems to have enjoyed the attention being given to him and encouraged us by punching his bat in the air rhythmically. Once, a stray dog was chased by the spectators on to the pitch. The play was stopped for awhile and resumed after the dog was shooed off by the police.

The spectators were bored to death by the constant maiden overs bowled by Nadkarni and the batting of Barrington and co. In order to liven up the proceedings someone flew a paper kite over the pitch with a snapped string. Again play was halted and Barrington sportingly caught hold of the thread and brought it down to the applause of the crowd. Meanwhile we entertained ourselves by throwing paper balls and fruit peels on to unsuspecting spectators sitting in front.

Barrington finally scored a single off Nadkarni after 21 overs and five balls had been bowled by the left-arm spinner without a run being scored.  He had bowled 131 consecutive dot balls! According to The Times, he “was immediately taken off as though being altogether expensive.”

It was a world record, breaking Horace Hazell’s record of 17 consecutive maidens. At first, Nadkarni was not aware of his achievement. “I came to know about it later. In the evening the official scorer came up to me and told me that I have set a new world record and have bowled the most economical spell. A few of my team-mates took a dig at me. At that time there was no media coverage and things like these went unnoticed.”

One curious aspect of Nadkarni was the fact that he wore loincloths (Langoti)  instead of underwear, often causing amusement in the dressing-room. As a result he earned the nickname ‘Bapu’, for Mahatma Gandhi used to do the same.

The five-match series ended in one of the most stagnating 0-0 stalemates in the history of the game.I was so thoroughly disappointed by witnessing 21 Maiden overs being bowled in my Maiden Test Match as a viewer that I vowed never to

A friend passes away in a far off land

We had many foreign students studying in various departments during my days at the Film Institute (1968-71). They were mostly from Afghanistan, Africa, Singapore and from neighbouring countries  Nepal, Bhutan, Ceylon etc.Each course had quota for two Foreign students and were mostly filled up. In our Cinematography class were Prem Kumar Upadhyaya from Nepal and Naapo Gbande from Ghana. Since Prem knew Hindi very well, we never felt he was a foreigner. Naapo was the most silent one who always spoke in a soft voice.Though he was much older than many of us, he looked young , tall and trim with a thin figure.  Away from home he was a little bit homesick and  always had a worried look. In due course we all became friends and he became happy and concentrated in his studies.

As a model in Lighting exercise

We used to have Lighting exercises in our Still Photography classes and we ourselves used to stand in as Model for each others practicals. Also we worked as a three member unit for our cinematography exercises etc.  Remember the photo, I published many years back in this Blog which was the main reason for me to write this Blog on my Institute days. The person pushing the dolly is Naapo Gbande and I am there holding the reflector while Jaya Bhaduri faces the camera handled by Mr.Edwards.

Camera Practicals - Naapo pushing the Dolly

During the strike at the Film  Institute, all foreign students supported me and stood by me at all times. In fact Naapo and David Ankora ( Sound Engineering) were always beside me to protect me from any intended attack by the Acting students.

David, me and Naapo

When it was time to leave the Institute a whole lot of my foreign friends turned up at the railway station to see me off. Almost half of my friends in the photograph are from far off lands.

Send off at Poona Railway station

We parted ways....immersed in our life and work we could not communicate with them later on. Meanwhile my batch mates Ramlal Agarwal and Debu Deodhar passed away  some years back. Last month in the International Film Festival of Kerala held at Thiruvananthapuram there were some films from Ghana. I wanted to meet those film makers to inquire about my old friends Naapo and  David. But somehow I missed meeting them. I thought of using the Internet to start searching for Naapo and I came to know of the sad news that he passed away on October 17 th 2015.

Naapo in Ghana

 

Given below is an  obituary written by Kouame Koulibaly :

A great cinematographer is gone

The film industry in Ghana lost one of its extremely brilliant cinematographers when Mr Naapo Gbande  died on October 17, 2015  at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra. He was 76.

Mr Gbande worked for several years with the defunct Ghana Film Industry Corporation (GFIC) where he shot numerous newsreels, documentaries and feature films.

He later moved on to the National Film and Television  Institute (NAFTI) as a lecturer and many of the current professional cinematographers in this country passed through his hands.

The soft-spoken Mr Gbande worked as the cinematographer on several projects with veteran film director, Mr Kwaw Ansah, who described him as an extremely creative and diligent collaborator.

“I worked with him on Harvest At 17, Love Brewed In The African Pot, Heritage Africa and several television commercials.

“He always tried to get images that truly complemented the essence of whatever was being shot. His work brought true meaning  to the functions of a DOP  on a film set,” Mr Ansah said.

A native of Kpandai in the Northern Region, Mr Gbande realised early in life that photography  was his calling and he diligently pursued it throughout his working life. Mr Gbande was trained in film photography at the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Experienced lighting technician, Mr Tetteh ‘Wrally’ Apain,  worked with Mr Gbande on numerous productions and they remained close friends.

“I enjoyed being on a set with him because he always knew what he was about. He truly understood what photography was about and every lighting technician cherished his presence during productions,” Mr Apain said about his late friend.

Apart from his teaching and practical work, Mr  Gbande was also a facilitator at several cinema workshops  in this country and abroad and he published practical guides on lighting and camera movement.

The  late cinematographer will be buried on Saturday, November 14, 2015 at the Madina Cemetery in Accra.  He will be sorely missed by the film making fraternity.  

Adieu my friend, though we couldn't meet afterwards your memory will always linger in our minds forever. Rest In Peace