There was a time when people used to stand and stare at new movie posters on the road side; stunning hand-painted visages of actors and swathes of colours and letters in striking fonts announced classics like Yavanika .
Paying homage to those posters is an installation for the IFFK. Mooted and funded by Kerala Chalachitra Academy, ‘Designers’ Attic’, a video installation by filmmaker Lijin Jose and designer/art director Razi with technical support from editor B. Ajithkumar, will showcase history of poster-making in Malayalam cinema and the masters who defined the field.
Posters have played an immeasurable and significant role in making cinema popular among the commoners. “Those were the times when posters where viewed with a sense of wonder. Nowadays hardly anyone is in awe of movie posters. Advancements in information technology and popularity of movies have reduced posters to something trivial,” says Konni-based Manu Bhaskar, script research assistant and cinema souvenir collector. His collections along with that of Althaf Ismail Edava’s were used in the making of the video installation.
Manu Bhaskar
“It is an integral part of the visual culture of our state with its roots in the 50s’ pop art movement. In fact, the poster designing for Malayalam movies can be termed as our own pop art and that contributed a lot to Malayalam cinema as we see it today,” says Lijin.
Lijin Jose
‘Designers’ Attic’ showcases works of masters from the bygone era as well as from the recent times.
The installation will employ multiple windows with different content tracing the history of Malayalam cinema’s posters. He adds, “Renowned veteran poster designers such as Gayathri Ashokan, Sabu Colonia and R.K. Radhakrishnan talk extensively about this long-standing art’s journey through the decades as well as about their own works.”
Many of the posters, even some treasured by enthusiasts and collectors, have perished over time on account of poor storage. Poster-makers from 60s and 70s never really cared to archive samples of their work. “
They might not have seen the relevance of storing them. There were no proper affordable technology to preserve them like we have today. That also might have contributed towards designers not attempting to store them,” says Manu.
Althaf Ismail Edava
But, thankfully, there are passionate collectors like Manu and Althaf who have spent considerable amount of money and time to painstakingly collect and preserve whatever has survived. Lijin says, “There are a number of people like them. We didn’t have time to contact all of them. Most often these collectors are people who have no connection with cinema whatsoever other than their love for it. If not for them we wouldn’t have been able see any of these relics of the past. The celebration of their hard work and passion also makes a part of ‘Designers’ Attic’.”
The installation is at Tagore Theatre and will be inaugurated on December 10.
