If ever there was a time that Malayalam movie buffs yearn for with rose-tinted frames, it would be the Kerala of yore in their imagination. The Kerala of fresh, unsullied greenery, peopled with ordinary folks, going about their lives, never completely black or white but magnificently extraordinary; much like in the 70s, in films of new wave auteurs such as Padmarajan, G. Aravindan and Bharathan. After a long gap, movie buffs will be transported back to this milieu, once again, in filmmaker Arun Kumar Aravind’s Kaattu , which is in theatres on October 13.
Asif Ali as Nuhukannu in Kaattu
“In fact, the title of the film is inspired by the phrase kaattedutha kaalam , roughly translated as a world, a time that’s gone with the wind,” says Arun, himself one of the first directors to herald the winds of change in Malayalam cinema with the likes of Cocktail , Ee Adutha Kaalathu and Left Right Left , now considered cult favourites. After staying away from the scene for nigh on three years following the release of his last film, One by Two , the director is back at the marquee with this Asif Ali-Murali Gopy-starrer, which he calls, a rustic revenge story.
Arun Kumar Aravind
“I’ve never followed the formula for my films and they are all of different genres. So, every time one of them comes up for release, I am on tenterhooks. Will people like the film? Will they follow what I am trying to say...?” he ponders. Ah! So, that’s why the hair and that scraggly beard has now turned grey...? (Laughs) “I can’t judge for myself how I have grown as a filmmaker. Only my film and my audience can say that. I try to make everything different, save for Murali, the only constant,” he says.
This time too it helps that the script is an author-backed one. Instead of Murali scripting the films , Kaattu has been inspired by writer-filmmaker Padmarajan’s short story, Ranimarude Kudumbam , and scripted by Ananthapadmanabhan, his son. “Pappan [Ananthapadmanabhan] had written the script long back and one day when I was sitting with him and Murali, we got talking about it and we just knew we had to make it into a film,” says the editor-turned-filmmaker.
Asif Ali and Murali Gopy in a scene from Kaattu
Was he daunted by the fact that he was working with a Padmarajan story, given the high regard that cineastes and Malayalam literature buffs alike hold for the late writer-filmmaker? “Honestly no, because I’m not aiming at being another Padmarajan. It’s not right to make comparisons because he is a legend and incomparable, I feel. I am fortunate to have his name associated with my film,” says Arun, becoming the archetypical fan as he gushes about the auteur. “I too am in awe of the auteur. I’ve watched almost all his films, my favourites being Namukku Paarkkan Munthirithoppukal and Seasons . In each of his films I am amazed by how well he has used his actors and moreover, found the right person for each role. For example, Suresh Gopi in Innale , which I think is the actor’s best role to date; Jagathy Sreekumar in Moonampakkam and Thilakan in Namukku Paarkkan Munthirithoppukal . As a filmmaker that’s what I strive to do – give the right actors characters that they can fully explore with their histrionic skills. Also, Padmarajan had mastered the art of writing and directing a film, which few writers or directors since could achieve. He knew exactly what was enough to make a film, which I think are valuable lessons for an editor like myself, who takes only what is needed,” he explains.
The filmmaker is keen to point out that Kaattu is Ananthapadmanabhan’s original work; only the characters have been inspired from his father’s story. “ Kaattu has a defined, realistic story and a strong visual language that we’ve not seen in Malayalam cinema of late. It’s mostly set in in the foothills of the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, with a distinct, feudal Malayalam desam (region) and a Tamil desam. It’s so remote that electricity has not yet made its way there,” says the director.
The film tells the story of a bunch of workers in a firecracker production unit and the women in their lives. Among them are Chellappan (Murali Gopy), Nuhukannu (Asif Ali), a simpleton who finds his way to the village, Pauly (Unni P. Dev, son of late actor Rajan P. Dev), Muthulakshmi (Varalaxmi Sharatkumar), from the Tamil side of the border, and the trio’s asan (Pankan Thamarassery). “The characters in the film are as raw and rustic as their environs; their emotions too, be it love, agony or friendship, they’re never too far from the surface. It’s the characters themselves and the life stories that drew me to the film. The film is not based on a real incident but given the factual premise, it could have likely happened in those times,” explains Arun.
The making of the film, he adds, was his most challenging yet, not least because they had to recreate the 70s vibe. “The physical and emotional demands were bigger. To find a location for the land that time forgot we had to go to the interiors of Palakkad and we shot the film in the height of summer. A few times we even had to postpone the shoot because it was just too hot. Some people actually fainted on set. I’m really thankful to my cast and crew for bearing with all the difficulties,” he says.
Kaattu has been produced by Arun himself, under the banner of Karmaayug films, and he is editing it as well. It’s been shot by Prasanth Ravindran, with art direction by the cinematographer’s brother Prabhath Ravindran and music is by Deepak Dev.
