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Fantasy on the mini-screen
K. KUNHIKRISHNAN
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B.M.C. Nair’s fantasty novel ‘Kalika’ is being turned into a serial.
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The author has taken pains to explicate the milieu, locale and the narrative in the book.
It is 30 years since the Malayalam fantasy novel, ‘Kalika,’ by Mohanachandran was serialised into a weekly. A pioneer in that genre, it received high readership. The novel was also turned into a film, under the same title ‘Kalika’ (1980), which was directed by Balachandra Menon and cinematographed by Vipin Das.
However, much of the novel’s charm was lost in the translation of mediums.
Now, a group of enthusiastic youth who hail from the vicinity of the locales of the novel, Aluva, has taken up the visual recreation of the signpost novel on the mini-screen and held extensive discussions with the author. Headed by Suresh Anchery, who is also acting as Jamaal in the serial, it will be shot under the banner of Lindla Maria Productions.
The author has taken pains to explicate the milieu, locale and the narrative in the book.. In fact Kalika’s surroundings, Cheerakkada temple and its ethereal grove and the village around, show that the author is familiar with the myths, rituals and legends of the region.
Mohanachandran is the nom de plume of B.M.C. Nair, a former ambassador, who has written eight novels in Malayalam.
Kalika,’ being the first of the television serials based on his novels, has him excited about the prospects of his novel on the small screen.
Adaptable plot
He says that apart from the main character, Kalika, who is affected by schizophrenia, there are several other sub-plots and more than 200 personalities who can be developed with visual appeal as occultism and rituals are the mainstream of the story.
However, Mohanachandran feels that his novel ‘Kaakkakalude Raathri’ (The Night of the Crows) would have made a better television serial.
The main character is a princess of Malayalam-Tamil heritage. But, he adds that he has reason to celebrate: a producer from Tamil Nadu has started work on it for a mega serial both in Tamil and Malayalam.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
