Quest for a homeland

Lenin Rajendran’s 'Edavapathi', releasing today, follows the trails and trials of those who are emotionally and physically alienated from their moorings.

April 21, 2016 12:34 pm | Updated 08:14 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

For Lenin Rajendran, the personal is political and vice-versa. Many of his films have explored the loneliness and angst of those who take the path less travelled to follow their heart for different reasons. His protagonist, artiste or activist, has never shied away from asking uncomfortable questions or taking on the establishment.

The pathos of the refugee is the focus of auteur Lenin’s new film, Edavapathi . Interacting with refugees in search of a place called home took Lenin into the heart of the Tibetan community in India. But he does not confine himself to the physical trauma and sense of alienation of the displaced. Instead he empathises with those who are emotionally and physically displaced from their moorings.

As is his style, he skilfully merges the line between fact and fiction to narrate a story of two youngsters in search of a mystical sanctuary. One happens to be a Tibetan monk while the other is his love, a young girl trying to escape from being trafficked. The filmmaker weaves the contemporary tale with the lyricism of Kumaran Asan’s poem on Vasavadatta, a rich and accomplished courtesan who falls for a Buddhist monk, Upagupta. The director says both the stories, though, set in two time periods, is about the search for a peaceful abode, whether it be of the mind or a physical space. Lenin says the film, which has been in the making for more than five years, is one of his best and one that he is proud to have helmed. Excerpts from an interview…

Why did the film take such a long time to reach theatres?

Veteran Jagathy Sreekumar, a dear friend of mine, had a key role in the film, which I believe that only he could have done. However, after he was injured in a road accident, I was forced to rewrite the script and also search for someone who could do justice to the role, though the character’s prominence was reduced a great deal. Finally, I selected theatreperson and actor Prashant Narayan. All that took time. Moreover, the film was shot in several places and there were logistical issues to be sorted out. Finally, the movie is ready.

The cast ofEdavapathihas been in the news for some time…

Once, I finished the script, I wanted an actor to play the lead role of the Tibetan monk. So, through friends, I placed an ad in the newspapers in Nepal. We wanted to locate the child, Siddharth Lama, who played the precocious Rimpoche in Yodha (1992). We did succeed in locating him and he readily agreed to play the lead in Edavapathi . Manisha Koirala, debutant Uttara Unni and Prashant play important roles.

Therein lies a tale…

Manisha plays Uttara’s mother Sumithra as well as the role of Mathangi. Uttara dons the roles of Yamini and Vasavadatta while Siddarth essays Siddarth, the monk, and Upagupta as well. I stumbled up on the thread of this story during a stay in Bylakuppe in Karnataka where there is a large Tibetan community. They are happy in India but they are not citizens of the country. What was surprising was that many youngsters who were born here and had never seen Tibet still hanker for their homeland in the mountains. The film is about how innocent people all over the world continue to be pawns in the games for dominance played by super powers. They become nomads in a globe of political borders. At another level, it is a passionate love story as well. In my film it is about Tibet but it could be about large scale displacement of people in West Asia. The personal suffering and yearning for a home are the same; the countries, names and communities might differ.

Edavapathiis already making waves with its music…

Yes, it won a State award for a song composed by Ramesh Narayan and sung by his daughter, Madhushree Narayan. Moreover, the film has been shot by none other than Madhu Ambat.

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