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Mallika Sarabhai to don director’s cap

Mallika Sarabhai

Kochi: Mallika Sarabhai dons several roles in life and art with characteristic ease. Now she plans to debut as a film director with a movie based on a novel on the Syrian Christian community in Kerala.

But she prefers to keep everyone guessing the name of the author and only says that it is an English novel authored by a Keralite. “Let there be suspense on that till we finalise the project,” she maintains.

Yadavan Chandran, film director T.V. Chandran’s son and coordinator of visual communications at the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts run by the Sarabhais, will co-direct the movie.

“It is about the many roles played by women in an orthodox Syrian Christian family set-up,” Ms. Sarabhai told The Hindu.

In town to perform And then they came to India…, a theatre choreography on the Parsis tracing their origin in 8 BC till the time they arrived in Gujarat almost 900 years later, she says the community, thanks to its religious tolerance, has always fascinated her.

“When they arrived, the king of Gujarat asked them to speak Gujarati as also to lay down weapons forever. They have stuck to that till date while excelling in all spheres. Isn’t it amazing?” she asked. As is her wont, she lets a hurling dervish to unravel the narrative.

Ms. Sarabhai also plans to set up an international university for art study and application in the contemporary context, provided there is corporate or government assistance.

“We discussed it last year, but nothing happened. I would love to set it up near water if some agency provides land for the purpose,” she said. She rued that no one nowadays wrote contemporaneous vernacular plays.

“At least not in Gujarat that I know of. But theatre will make a revival. Presently, lack of funds hamper the growth of theatre and dance. If our government also thinks that Bollywood is all India is about, what can we do?” she asked wondering how many great artistes could have performed at the Commonwealth Games in Australia on Rs. 40 crore that the government spent on sending two Bollywood actors.

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