It’s the season for modern takes on epics and humanising iconic characters. Filmmaker-author Jyotin Goel’s Bheem-Destiny’s Warrior (Penguin Books) is an addition to such contemporary literature. The author who’s directed films like Bird Idol, Safari, Hum Hai Raahi Car ke finds Bheem to be among the most human characters in the Mahabharatha. It was M T Vasudevan Nair’s Randamoozham (where Mahabharatha is narrated from Bheema’s perspective) that planted the thought in Jyotin’s mind about placing Bheem in a contemporary setting.
“Bheem has all the attributes of a hero; though he has human failings, he recognises them. He had tried to question, but he didn’t succeed in having his way. He obeyed Krishna’s diktats, but he couldn’t fulfil his own intentions. Bheem is a very complex character and he intrigued me,” says Jyotin, explaining that the epics are consistently alive within us.
As epics find their way across various media — television, films and literature, Jyotin sees it as a continuance, rather than a revival or resurgence of epics . “I personally feel the epics are deeply connected to the way we function as a society. Even in contemporary stories that aren’t directly based on the epics, there is an element of the Ramayana or the Mahabharatha. They are bound to be re-interpretations, it is in the ethos of the South-Asian community.”
Bheem-Destiny’s Warrior will see Bheem as a protector of the world, devoid of the inhibitions he had in objecting to the doings of Yudhishtr, Krishna and Arjun. “At moments, he is in conflict with what he’s told to do, yet goes ahead. In the book’s setting, Bheem is removed from such complexities, he is left for himself, needs to take the burden of being a hero.”Film writing and novels are as different as chalk and cheese, he states. What he enjoys in the role of a writer is talking about the inner workings of characters, their philosophical virtues. “A novel is different in the sense film scripts are collaborative, you take inputs from many and it’s one person who takes the final call. There’s a coming together of ideas. Novel only has one person and no second opinion into play. You learn a lot about yourself in the process which is very satisfying.”
His film experience shows in his visual approach to the novel. He goes onto say that his descriptions have ‘life’. “It’s a breather that there’s no time factor here too unlike the movies.” The debate about dilution of epics needs to wait, as he finds we hold our epics too close to understand what’s good and what isn’t. “That’s why opinions change over the years. I, as a writer, would be happy to look at anybody’s work with epics, time will tell if it’s dilution or re-inforcement.”
Jyotin who majored in English literature, says “The children’s books that I’ve written and Bheem have been creative expressions that aren’t easy to translate on-screen, but I needed to put them out. I am sharing a few thoughts with my publishers who luckily seem to like it. Straddling across films and literature wasn’t a plan but only a mode of self expression.” As a reader, he enjoys works of Amitav Ghosh, Aravind Adiga, David Mitchell, Ian Fleming and P G Wodehouse.
Among the various lessons he has learnt as an author is the need to write on a regular basis to get what you want and to let the right creative juices flow. “Constructive criticism isn't only welcome, it's necessary. It's important to have an opinion from a peer that you respect. Praise is something one craves for, criticism is something that everyone needs.” Now that he's brought out a hero like Bheem to the contemporary era, he has his focus set on a negative character. “Someone like Raavan maybe?” he signs off.
