What is Dada Saheb Phalke’s link with Kerala? Stumped?
Adoor Gopalakrishnan explains this Malayali connect. The father of Indian cinema was hugely influenced by the celebrated artist Raja Ravi Varma. He started Phalke’s Art and Engraving Works at Lonavala and did photolitho transfers of Ravi Varma’s oleographs. The style and content of Ravi Varma’s paintings were extended by Dada Saheb to his films. In many ways the artist was a direct cultural predecessor to Phalke influencing his themes, his images and his views of culture.
Adoor was speaking at the official launch of the Limca Book of Records 2013 Malayalam Edition – Cinema Special, in the city. The decorated director-scriptwriter-producer was honoured along with cinematographer Santosh Sivan, on the occasion. This goes on to establish Malayalam’s connect with 100 years of Indian cinema, indirectly of course.
Asked to share his thoughts on cinematography, Santosh Sivan sensibly thought the occasion did not merit a lecture on the nitty-gritty’s of this art. Instead, he shared some anecdotes from his life that taught him some invaluable life experiences. There was one from his days in Arunachal Pradesh. The advice he got if chased by a tiger while walking in the wild was to climb the nearest tree. And you would do it even if you did not know how to do it. The lesson he learned from this was everyone was talented, all they needed was a tiger behind them, to bring it out.
The launch was attended by Vijaya Ghosh, Editor, Limca Book of Records, Deepak Jolly, Vice-President (Public Affairs & Communications) Coca-Cola India and Ajai K. Kumar, Zonal Head, Operations, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. A series of performances by Limca Book of Record holders was also held.
