Interview: Adoor

And it came in the form of Film Institute?
Actually I wanted to join the National School of Drama at Delhi. But the medium of instruction there was Hindi. I was not very proficient in Hindi. Only those who knew Hindi could join there. Just then, I accidentally came across an advertisement inviting applications for a course in Screenplay Writing & Direction (I saw that paper when I was having a cup of tea at a teas hop opposite Chengannur bus stand). I thought Screenplay writing was similar to Play writing, for I had some experience in that. I applied and got selected. In those days you had to go to Pune to appear for the entrance exams.

The institute was started only in 1961 and it was the second year. K A Abbas was chairing the selection board. I got the first rank and the only scholarship that was available (Rs. 75 per month). Then, with the money I had received as gratuity and other benefits from my previous employment (I had served there for about an year and a half), the first thing I did was to buy a portable typewriter, and a book-'Teach Yourself Typewriting'-by Pitman.

We had a teacher there, Prof. R S Pruthi. He was a brilliant teacher who was thorough with dramaturgy and his classes in script writing were stimulating. He wanted us to write one screenplay a week, which I didn't find difficult because of my experience in theatre.

The typewriter was very useful in this regard. It helped me a lot in later life also. All the initial office work for Chitralekha Film Cooperative was done on that. Later, I replaced it with an electronic typewriter and now a PC. I know both English and Malayalam typewriting and this comes in handy in office work and scripting.

Were there any other Malayalees in that batch?
There was John Sankaramangalam in my class and the late Devadas and a couple of others in the technical departments. Only a few of my batch mates completed the course, many of them left in the middle for various reasons. And of the ones who successfully completed the course, very few made films. One of them worked for his whole life as a first assistant in Bombay. No risks, and good payment. Some of the others made one or two films before quitting. John Sankaramangalam joined there as faculty. Many years later, I became the Chairman of the Governing Council while he was the director.

There are a number of Film Institute students who have never been active in filmmaking. They come with great hopes there and after watching all those classics they feel small, often lose confidence to do anything on one's own. Only the self-confidence, the conviction that you also have something to say, can help you to survive.

Interestingly, it was not the so called intellectuals and writers who showed enthusiasm to watch these films, but students from the university, engineering college, medical college, 'ordinary' employees at the bank or government. It was a revelation to me. Among the intellectuals, there was always this tendency to look down upon films.

How was life in Pune?
It was a hard life. I had to live on frugal means. The meagre scholarship amount had to be supplemented with money orders from my elder brother back home. The Institute had a very good library. So after the classes I spent most of my time there. In the second year Ritwik Ghatak came as teacher. Things turned dramatic with his entry. But I have never met any teacher outside the classroom. I was also a very shy person and it was difficult for me to make acquaintances.

For one full year I stayed in a simple State Government hostel not far from the Institute paying a nominal rent of Rs.10 per month. During my second year I found myself shifting to a better abode, the outhouse of a private bungalow called 'Nikunjam' and sharing the room with a University student from Maharashtra. In the third year I shifted to 'Gurukripa' sharing a room with Devadas.

It was only after joining the Film Institute that I even touched a still camera. When I was handed one as part of my practical lesson, I did not know what to shoot. And after a lot of deliberation I did click with apprehensions. To my great surprise, the result was well worth the doubts and hesitation. The teacher liked it a lot.

During weekends I went to down town theatres to watch vintage Hindi and English movies; they had special shows at half the rates! That is how I caught up with most of the old Hindi and Hollywood films.

Anything significant during those years?
My mother died in my first year at the Institute. In those days it took almost two days to reach home. By the time I arrived, everything was over.

What about the student community there?
Most students came from an urban background. And students like me felt pygmied, for I was not very articulate in English then. Most of the Malayalee students have this problem, even today. In a way it is good, I think. It makes one work inwardly. There is a conflict between what you have and what you show. It is good for an artist's development not to be too facile with spoken words.

During the second year I still remember two students, Asrani and Mani Kaul who came there together to join the acting course. Asrani continued with the acting course, while Kaul switched to direction.

It is curious that many students who show great promise while studying at the institute seldom make it once they go out. Maybe they don't really try.

John Abraham joined the institute later?
Yes. Though he was older than me, he joined the institute later. Pavithran was studying at the Law College nearby. He was a regular at the film shows in the Institute.

What about the teachers?
There were some teachers who were really good. Ghatak was one. Then there was Prof. Satish Bahadur, who was a Marie Seton discovery.

Ghatak must have been a great presence?
Actually many people do not know that Ghatak came to the Institute through the recommendation of Satyajit Ray. It was Ray who prompted Indira Gandhi (who was the I & B Minister) to appoint him there. Ghatak was going through bad times then. By that time, he had already done his major works. His reading was wide and he was well versed in Sanskrit texts like Vedas and the epics. His lectures, especially on his own films, were inspiring. Similar is the case with his insights on Ray films; he had great admiration and understanding of them. But ironically, what got greater currency were his casual remarks during his drunken bouts.

What was your diploma film about?
It was titled 'A GREAT DAY'. A humorous film on a lazy man on the day his fiancé's father was to visit him. He is so lazy that he never bothers to clean up his room or venture to do anything to put things in order. He had even developed an ingenious device to collect the milk bottle in the morning without getting up from the bed. On the great day, though he tries his best to tidy his room, he is not able to gather himself to do it. His would be father in law comes and goes, and he sits depressed only to be informed by his joyful fiancé that her father liked him. He is aghast! Then she tells him, "He liked your smile, especially your teeth". Her father was a dentist!

After the completion of the course, the natural destination is either Bombay or Chennai to work in the film industry. What prompted you to come back to Kerala?
There was no doubt in my mind as to what I should do after graduating from the Institute. I wanted to come back to my own land and make films. Even while in the Institute, I was planning a lot of activities in Kerala. It was then that the All India Writers Conference was convened at Alwaye. M Govindan was one of the organizers. During our discussions, he suggested that the conference could have an international film festival also as part of it, and he wanted me to organize it. I gladly accepted the responsibility. And we organized a festival of films from all over the world for one week in nine towns of Kerala, at all the district headquarters simultaneously in January 1965. It was the first international film festival in Kerala and was received well. I had prepared a detailed brochure and set the theme of the festival as setting up of film societies. In fact we were trying to create a future audience for quality cinema. The idea was to start a film society in each of these places. The first, Chitralekha, was inaugurated in Trivandrum in the month of July. Many film societies came up as a result of this. It was like preaching the gospel of cinema.

Chitralekha was formed then?
Chitralekha had taken shape in 1964 with a three pronged approach: set up film societies, publish film literature and make quality films. The Chitralekha Film Souvenir, the first ever serious publication on cinema in the language was brought out that very year. The idea was to make a comprehensive intervention in the film media. On the one hand we wanted to show classics, discuss them and publish writings about them. On the other we wanted to distribute and produce films. For the latter we decided to establish a studio of our own. Chitralekha succeeded in all these.

In the early days of film society, was there an enthusiastic crowd to watch films?
Viewers were very few in number. We used to arrange the screenings with great difficulty, financial and infrastructural. We didn't have a permanent venue to screen. Each screening was held at different places. And even when you arrange everything, only a handful of people came to watch them. People thought it was madness.

Standing and watching people passing by in the street while a classic was being screened before a thin audience, I used to wonder: What a pity, they don't realise what they are missing!

What was the response of the writers and intellectuals? Did they participate in your programmes?
Interestingly, it was not the so called intellectuals and writers who showed enthusiasm to watch these films, but students from the university, engineering college, medical college, 'ordinary' employees at the bank or government. It was a revelation to me. Among the intellectuals, there was always this tendency to look down upon films.

After coming back from the institute, were you confident of making a living as a filmmaker?
Yes, for, I could not have done anything else. At that time, I had several lucrative offers from organizations like UNICEF. But I refused them.

Initially I thought I would try for five years: If nothing happens by then, I will reconsider my decision. Nothing happened after five years. So, then I thought, I would try for another five years. I could make my first film only after seven years.

Did you ever think of assisting other directors? Were there any offers?
Never. Assisting another director never occurred to me. As for offers, there were none. We had approached some people for financing, but nothing was working out. Then one of our friends who worked in Kuwait agreed to produce a film. And we ventured into the film Kamuki. G Aravindan was associated in its production. We travelled a lot on his scooter to scout for the locations. I had reworked the script that was originally written by the noted Playwright, C N Sreekantan Nair. I even shot for three-four days. But by that time our producer had diverted the money to some other venture, and we didn't know that. He never told us about it. Then he thought that we would get some distributors to invest in it and started showing the rushes around. But it didn't work either. We had cast a new face as heroine, along with established actors like Madhu, P. J. Antony, Adoor Bhasi ete. But nothing came out of it.

What was its theme?
It was an ordinary story, very conventional. So I did some repairs on the treatment. I had a bad experience with that. Someone who saw the shooting went and told the author that we were not shooting what he had written. And it created a lot, of misunderstanding amongst good friends. I too lost interest in it. Eventually, the project was abandoned.

But I learned a great lesson from it: never start shooting a film unless and until one is sure of the money for completing it. We also had problems arising out of lack of work experience. It was during a rainy season that we decided to shoot. The moment the camera was set, the rains would start pouring down. It happened again and again, and the sun hardly showed up.

Which was your first film after you came out of the Institute?
It was a short film of 50 seconds duration. It was made in 1967 for a competition at Montreal on the theme 'Man and His World'. I was broke and had no money to hire a camera or other equipments. Fortunately at that time, a filmmaker friend from Bombay K T John was making a documentary on Swati Tirunal. I helped him in collecting relevant materials and to coordinate production. After his work some film was left, which he gave me. He also had his own camera. My film became possible only because of that. When he went to Bombay to develop his film, I also went with him and processed mine, and edited it there.

Then it was sent to Montreal. Sometime later, I received a telegram informing that the film was selected as one among the best twenty films in the festival, and that it was being preserved at the Cinematheque of Canada. Karamana Janardhanan Nair was the hero in that film.

What was it about?
It was about life, desire etc. No dialogues, only a series of extreme close shots. It was a sort of collage.

Could you elaborate on the early days of Chitralekha?
Initially we were trying to get some assignments from various government departments and agencies to make documentaries. We had no choice but to accept any offer that came our way. I made documentaries on family planning, lottery etc. It helped Chitralekha to establish itself financially. Whatever money we got, we used to invest in equipments. So we had equipments, but no money.

The biggest project was a documentary on the Idukki Hydel Project. It was an eight-year project covering all phases of dam construction. But we had not enough money to bring Mankada Ravi Varma from Madras to shoot it. So I myself shot it. We completed it in eight years. It was to be released in all the main cinema houses in Kerala the day Mrs. Indira Gandhi was to inaugurate the ldukki project. So M N Govindan Nair who was the electricity minister then, wanted the film to be ready for the occasion. The advance money came forth quickly and Chitralekha made substantial gains from it.

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