Returning to school after 50 years

Recently I was shooting the Malayalam film LITTLE MASTER starring Lal (Siddique) and Lakshmi Gopalaswami, being directed by L.Rajendran in Thiruvavananthapuram . The location was S.M.V. High School which was one of the oldest schools in Thiruvavananthapuram established by the Maharaja Sree Moolam Thirunal and hence the name Sree Moola Vilasam High School.

Shooting at SMV H.S with Lal (Siddique)

During the shooting interval, my friend veteran Art Director and Director Radhakrishnan ( R.K.) paid a visit to meet me. He told me a very fascinating information that he had once been a student at the S.M.V. school 50 years ago and since then nothing had changed much there. The old tiled buildings and even the benches and desks in the classrooms were the very same ones from his times. Those old wooden benches had cast iron frames which were imported from England. He also told me that a portion of the school was formerly used as Police premises and lockup cells were there.

Going back in time he located the class room and the very bench where he sat during his days as a student there.

R.K.in his old seat at school

In his student days he had a leaning towards Communist ideology and became part of the leftist student organisation SF. In his fervour towards the party he had carved the Sickle and Hammer Party symbol on the surface of his bench.

The hand that etched...

Sitting in his old seat and running his fingers over his art work, Radhakrishnan said that he was coming there for the first time, ever since he left the school 50 years ago. It so happened only because I invited him to visit our shooting location. Though he had been living for the past many years in Thiruvananthapuram and passed the school on his way many a times, it never occurred to him to get inside and see the place.

R.K's art work

I am happy that I was instrumental for his reunion with his Alma Mater and was able to record it for posterity.

More about R.K.in THE HINDU newspaper:

" Yahoo" of Indian Cinema - Shammi Kapoor

I saw the Hindi film " JUNGLEE" at a Saturday Night screening for the hostel inmates while studying at the Loyola College, Madras for my graduation in 1963. The screenings were held at the Bertram Hall and the films were pre-censored by the warden for objectionable content. It was love at first sight and I became a fan of the dashing, dancing and dynamic Shammi Kapoor. Though I have studied Hindi at high school level it was not compulsory to get pass marks in that subject and if you just write down the question paper that will earn you 15 marks! Even with such scarce understanding of Hindi we all enjoyed every moment of the film mainly due to Shammi's stylish and electrifying performance and the the fantastic music by Shankar - Jaikishan. Later on we were also treated to another film of Shammi, the hilarious "PROFESSOR" and he became one of my favourite actors.

I was lucky to have worked with him once for the Hindi Television Serial " Stories from the Bible" in 1991 Directed by Jijo Punnoose, produced by Navodaya. I was doing the Pilot episode of the serial which consisted of Noah's Ark and the Tower of Babel. Shammi was cast as Nimrod who built the mighty Tower of Babel. On his arrival he invited us, the crew to his room to get ourselves introduced to each other. There sitting on the bed was a massive man sporting a beard and wearing a necklaces of big polished stones, colorful beads and rudrakshas. He was entirely different from the image etched on my mind many years ago. He was very friendly and even offered us a drink which we politely declined. He asked the Director to give him the script of the next day's shooting so that he can come prepared for the work.

When the time came for his shot and he started the rehearsals, the assistant director began prompting the dialogues as it was the usual practice in the Malayalam film industry. He immediately asked the assistant to stop prompting. He had memorized all the dialogues perfectly and delivered them flawlessly. Such was his dedication to his work that amazed all of us. Even now most of the actors in Malayalam film industry never care to learn their dialogues and think it not at all a part of their acting. They just hear and parrot like mouth their lines. In spite of the hot and humid conditions of the remote location and the dusty atmosphere produced by hundreds of extras engaged in the building activities, he cheerfully endured the shooting.

At the end of the shoot we had this group photo taken and he called all the unit members to join him.

Crew of "Stories from the Bible"

Director Jijo, Shammi and me

Thanks for the short and sweet association we had with you which we will all remember for ever.

Adieu Shammiji!

Mani Kaul - A personal remembrance

Mani Kaul ( 1944-2011)

While many Film makers made compromises for their existence, Mani Kaul till the very last breath remained an uncompromising, individualistic creator of films. His films were far ahead of their times which will be always cherished by connoisseurs of good cinema.

I was a student at the Poona Film Institute when he had come there to screen his debut film USKI ROTI in 1970. The film was really something we have not seen before on the Indian screen, consisting of lengthy static camera shots and used only one 28 mm lens for the whole film. Many of us didn't like it at all in the first viewing , because of the static lengthy shots and slow pace of the film. But a repeated viewing made us to study the film more deeply, made us to think and not remain as passive viewers. The carefully composed images of light and shade created by K.K.Mahajan in Black and White was another factor that contributed much to the film. I got introduced to him after the screenings and soon became a friend. During his visits to the Institute, which were quite frequent we used to meet along with K.G.George and other friends under the Wisdom tree or at the canteen. You are sure to find him always surrounded by admiring students. Such was his magnetic personality.

At that time he was having a love interest with a Tamilian girl Lalitha, (whom he later on married) and he asked me to teach him a few words in Tamil so as to impress her. He used to write down words like " Naan unnai kadhalikkeren " ( "I love you ") on a piece of paper and memorize it with proper pronunciation. Later on I have also visited his house "Janaki Kutir" at Mumbai and enjoyed his and Lalitha's hospitality. Though he was my senior, he introduced me to his wife Lalitha as his Tamil teacher!

Ravi Menon who was my batch mate at the Institute had done the lead role in Mani's Hindi film "DUVIDHA" before he made his debut in Malayalam films with M.T Vasudevan Nair's National Award winning "NIRMALYAM" for which I was the cinematographer. Ravi used tell me a number of interesting incidents from his shooting experience with Mani Kaul's team. I lost touch with Mani for a number of years after I relocated to Thiruvananthapuram. A few years back I happened to meet him during the International Film Festival of Kerala and that was our last meeting.

I have lost an old friend and great soul and Indian Film Industry had lost a Master Film maker!


Link:

Please also read a Moving Tribute by Tanuja Chaturvedi - HERE

VIPIN DAS - A man of contrasts in B&W

Vipin Das always remained a mysterious figure - Cinematographer, Director, Violinst, Sanyasi etc all rolled in one. His coming and going will be always dramatic and unexpected. For some time you will find him working in films and suddenly you will be missing him as he will wandering in the remote corners of the country in search of exotic spirituality. Like his Black and White photography he was a man full of contrasts, likable and unpredictable. The final curtain came down on his colourful career on 12, February 2011 at Vythiri at Wayanad in Northen Kerala, after a cardiac attack.

Vipin Das

(Photo - R. Gopalakrishnan)

In the seventies I met him in the company of our mutual friend P.A.Backer who at that time was a Film Producer. I was staying at Chennai along with K.G.George and Prabhakaran ( FTII - Acting) in a flat rented by P.A.Backer which was fondly called POONA HOME, because of us , the residents all hailing from the Poona Film Institute. When Backer started directing films Vipin Das was the natural choice and he extended his full support for his films. I still remember his excellent B&W work in MANIMUZHAKKAM which he had photographed using ordinary photo-flood bulbs.

Later on he did the debut film of I.V.Sasi and the team regularly brought out many small budget B&W films which became superhits, such as AVALUDE RAAVUGAL etc. When the colour era came I got associated with I.V.Sasi in his first colour feature film ITHA IVVIDE VAREY which was a path breaking film. While in 1979 I was going to the U.S. for the filming of I.V.Sasi's multilingual films EZHAM KADALIN AKKARE (Malayalam ) and OREY VAANAM OREY BHOOMI (Tamil) we thought of having a second unit. Editor Narayanan as Director and Vipin Das as cinematographer formed the second unit. Thus we had the opportunity to work side by side for about a fortnight. Below is a photograph taken at the Niagara Falls helipad.

At Niagara falls - Editor Narayanan, Vipin Das and me

The last time I met him was while he was shooting the Malayalam film TATWAMASI on one of the floors of the Chitranjali Studios. At that time I was shooting the film KADAKSHAM on the main studio floor. He came down to our sets during the lunch break and spent some time there. He was looking very smart and active despite the passage of years. Though he had not done feature films for a number of years, he was quite up to date about the technology as he was a voracious reader.

Malayalam film industry will certainly miss the loss of Veteran Cinematographer Vipin Das who had contributed a lot especially during the Black and White era low budget films. I too miss him, but I hope that as per his nature, any moment he may reappear again at unexpected time and place.

He had done a large number of feature films and documentaries in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and other languages. Given below is a partial list of films as Cinematographer and as Director.

Filmography ( Cinematographer):

2010 Tatwamasi

1991 Adayalam

1990 Randam Varavu

1989 Jagratha

1989 Mounam Sammadham

1988 Oru CBI Diary Kurippu

1988 Moonnam Mura

1987 Aankiliyude Tharattu

1987 Oru Sindoora Pottinte Ormaykku

1986 Ee Kaikalil

1986 Adukkan Entheluppam

1986 Iniyum Kurukshethram

1985 Nirakkoottu

1985 Ente Kanakkuyil

1985 Azhiyatha Bandhangal

1985 Kaiyum Thalayum Purathidaruthu

1984 Piriyilla Naam

1983 Belt Mathai

1983 Changatham

1982 Chillu

1982 Ponmudy

1981 Oridathoru Phayalwan

1981 Parvathi

1977 Mani Muzhakkam

As Director :

1984 Oru Kochu Swapnam

1971 Prathidhawani

Thalattu ( Tamil)

Light has gone.....

The year 2010 seems to be particularly cruel to Malayalam cinema personalities by snatching away their lives at unexpected moments as described in MT's words – Death is a joker who enters the scene with no regard to the situation. The latest being Master Cinematographer Mankada Ravi Varma who wrapped up his life at the age of 84, at Chennai on November 22, 2010.

Mankada Ravi Varma

It was in 1971 at the home of writer poet M. Govindan in Madras Egmore, along with Director John Abraham that I met Mankada Ravi Varma. M. Govindan was at that time publishing the literary Journal “SAMEEKSHA” and his home was the meeting place of many writers and artists. Graduates from the Film Institutes were looked upon as only “Theoretical people” and they were considered unfit when it comes to practical things like shooting a feature film. So they had to work on the fringes of the film industry as assistants or work in documentaries or seek employment in Films Division. Even though he passed out from the Madras Polytechnic in Motion Picture Photography and Sound Engineering in 1952, he got no break in the film industry and had to be content with being employed by the Films Division. He later resigned the job, bought a 16 mm camera and was doing documentaries for BBC and other foreign news agencies.

P.A. Azeez who became the very first Direction graduate from the Poona Film Institute ever to make a feature film “ AVAL” ( Malayalam ) in 1967, gave Mankada his first break as an independent cinematographer. Incidentally Santha Devi who passed away two days back had also acted in that film in which Madhu and Usha Nandhini played the leading roles. Then came the path breaking film “ OLAVUM THEERAVUM” (1969) scripted by M.T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by P.N. Menon in which Mankada broke the shackles and released the camera from the confines of the four walls of the studio floors and brought it to the wide outdoors and real interiors.

He says about his experience thus: "We exploited the available light. The framing and composition of the film were totally different from other feature films. I tried to accommodate all the tones that were available in black-and-white, and shot the film. As I had shot documentaries in very adverse conditions, I decided to make use of all those experiences in a feature film. Usually in poor light, a cinematographer stops shooting. What I did was use it to my advantage."

In 1971 at Madras another Film Institute venture VIDYARTHIKALEY ITHILEY ITHILEY was going on with the crew consisting of John Abraham ( Director), M. Azad ( Script writer), Ravi (Editor), Devadas ( Sound Engineer) and myself as Cinematographer – all from the Poona Film Institute. At Madras in those days, there were no Nagra Recorders in use as the Recordists had no trust in such a small portable tape recorder and preferred big machines running 35 mm magnetic tapes. Since we were shooting our film in Sync sound, Devadas used to bring Nagra from Chitralekha Film Co-operative, Trivandrum. At that time the work of Adoor's film SWAYAMVARAM was also progressing in Trivandrum.

Ravi Varma and Adoor

Starting from SWAYAMVARAM till NIZHALKUTHU, Adoor and Ravi Varma pair had collaborated in more films than Bergman and Sven Nykvist, or Satyajith Ray and Subrato Mitra, David Lean and Freddie Young Director-Cinematographer combination.

While Raja Ravi Varma used paints and brushes, Mankada Ravi Varma used to paint with light to create his visuals. He excelled in his Black & White films by judiciously mixing shadows and light, highlighting the faces of characters to focus on their emotions. His transition to the colour era was very smooth without compromises as seen in the internationally acclaimed film ELIPATHAYAM.

He always found time to interact with his juniors who seek his guidance and clear their doubts in cinematography. He gladly came over to Thiruvanthapuram to establish our Indian Society of Cinematographers and also became a Founder Member of ISC.

A light had gone from the World Cinematography , but I am sure that from the high heaven he will guide us with his leading light!

Judging a Fancy dress competition

Judging a Fancy Dress Competition is not an easy job as you might think especially if the participants are Kindergarten children. I took up the task when I was persuaded by my friend Indrabalan to be the Judge for the competition for Bodhi School run by his friend Jayan Krishnan at Palkulangara, Thiruvananthapuram. Only when I reached there and saw the tiny tots I was wondering how am I going to select the winner without hurting the feelings of other children. Fortunately I was told that that I only need to grade their overall performance and apart from the top three winners others will also be rewarded with certificates.

Children waiting for their turn

Bodhi School was established by Jayan Krishnan last year with the motive to provide ample opportunities for overall development of children in the most amicable way by keeping student teacher ratio at 10:1. In the clean atmosphere of the school I found the children to be very happy, bright and cheerful.

One of the cute contestants

It was really a fun event and the children enjoyed their make believe costumes and I had a nice time interacting with the kids. I wish the school all success.

For more photographs of the event, please Click HERE

Santha Devi

One more loss to the Malayalam Film Industry in 2010. Santha Devi, National Award winning Malayalam Actress of yesteryear passed away uncared on 20th November 2010 at Kozhikode. Her last days were full of misery and pain and for sometime she was in the care of an old age home.

Santha Devi at Old Age Home

Her son Sathyajith was an award winning child artiste in M.T. and P.N.Menon's film "Kuttiyedathi". Sathyajith acted in my first film 'VIDYARTHIKALEY ITHILE ITHILE' (1971) directed by John Abraham and Santha Devi who had accompanied him had also acted in that film. At times her husband Kozhikode Abdul Khadar used to come to Madras where most of the shooting was done. In those days we had a flat at Madras Mahalingapuram, as our office cum residence where John, Script writer M. Azad, Sound Engineer Devadas and myself used to stay during the shooting. Santha Devi's family were also accommodated in one of the rooms, when they came to Madras for the shooting.

She had acted in many of my films and in most of the films which had Kozhikode as their location. Finally time took its toll and the roles became lesser and lesser and the tragic death of Sathyajith also affected her much. As usual on her death a lot of "honour" was given by the Government and Film Industry organizations but while living no one bothered to help her in her time of need.

May her Soul Rest in Peace at last.