A fter watching 2009’s National Award-winning Tamil film Kanchivaram, there’s a question Shyam Benegal asked Priyadarshan that a lot of film watchers asked themselves: ‘Did the guy who made Hera Pheri make this?’ He’s back in the same arty zone with Sila Samayangalil, just his second non-commercial film (‘Kaalapani was a parallel film’) in a career that spans three decades and 90 films. The Prakash Raj-starrer has already won three awards at the Jaipur International Film Festival, apart from the Special Jury Award at Chennai International Film Festival.
“There are films you make because you’re passionate. Then are films you make because you’re greedy. Most of my films belonged to the latter category. But this one’s to feed the filmmaker, not his pocket.”
Sila Samayangalil is the second in his trilogy of socially-conscious films. While Sila Samayangalil is about AIDS and the stigma surrounding it, his next deals with female foeticide. “AIDS is an uninteresting subject. All one can do with it is to make a documentary, but no one would watch it. The challenge was to turn a dry subject into a thriller with a bit of comedy. A thriller gets through to people, which in turn, raises awareness. It’s not just about sending a message… we have SMSes for that.” The film follows a group of people as they await results of their blood tests. Though set within a single room, Priyadarshan says he didn’t repeat a single shot in the film. It took all of his 36-year experience to be able to do that. “Commercial films have a way of straight-jacketing you, because you’re constantly trying to speed up every moment, over-explaining every little thing. Art films give you freedom… I didn’t care about what people thought of Kanchivaram or Sila Samayangalil.”
Despite being able to make films in any language, he chose to make Sila Samayangalil in Tamil. “I could have made it in Malayalam, but every film is an art film there. The whole State is one big town. But Tamil Nadu, with its villages, their customs and culture, gives you a rich setting. I recently watched Kidaari and was amazed. Earlier, you’d only refer to characters as the one Nambiar or Nagesh played. Now it’s the character’s name we use to refer to an actor.”
Explaining how it had taken him nine years before he to finally made Kanchivaram, he says he’s not going to delay making ‘passion’ projects any more. “It took a long time to come, but I’d imagine a big void in my career had I not made Kanchivaram and Sila Samayangalil. Even recently, I made a Malayalam film called Oppam, which went on to become a big hit. After 90 films, you learn how to not let the outcome of a film affect you. But when Oppam became a hit, especially after a life disaster, it really helped me. It makes you feel younger.”
