From his editing table, Mahesh Narayanan has created magic on screen. He has shown his prowess with choosing frames with hits such as Beautiful, Traffic, Vishwaroopam, Mumbai Police, Ennu Ninte Moideen and Uyare , the latest in a long and commendable list. Mahesh turned screenwriter with Mili in 2015, before going on to make his directorial début with the acclaimed thriller Take Off.
Edited excerpts from an interview...
It is said that film editing is ‘an invisible art’...
I feel that editing is another stage of writing. If there is a debate over the contributions of a writer and an editor, I would say a movie is essentially a writer’s art. The writer is the first editor for any visual art form. However, it is at the editing room that the chronology is decided. At times, a whole new structure is made by the editor. Editing is a creative process but it is called an invisible art because what happens inside the editing room is not known outside.
What attracted you to editing?
While joining Adyar Film Institute, my plan was to learn cinematography. However, it was at the institute that I understood the concept of editing, which helps the viewer experience the true feel of a story in an engaging manner. I found this fascinating and was assigned editing after an aptitude assessment.
Your last two releases as an editor are Madhura Raja and Uyare . How do you approach films of such varying genres?
It’s mainly based on the feedback we receive from the writer and the director. They decide on the kind of audience they want to cater to. Madhura Raja is an extension of an earlier film that came out nine years ago but it had to appeal to new viewers as well. Uyare is, in a way, a story of courage under fire. The effort is to find the interesting segments to structure a movie. That process can vary with genres. But the film should be enjoyable, and, at the same time, any movie should subliminally convey the mind, the emotions and the politics of its director. Here, the editor goes in tandem with the director’s cue.
Do changes in viewers’ tastes reflect in the editing pattern?
Our viewers are mostly familiar with the narrative structure we follow. For instance, they are smart enough to anticipate the interval point even before it is announced on screen or to guess where a story is heading to when the premise is predictable. The effort should be to challenge them. Traffic was one film that brought in some unexpected twists that the audience weren’t probably expecting. The theories we used to follow are changing now. Filmmakers such as Lijo Jose Pellissery and Dileesh Pothen are so exciting that they make the viewers players in their narration. Such changes attract viewers to theatres. I believe that soon the story will become the USP instead of the stars.
The way comedy is handled in Malayalam cinema...
The laughs generated by Siddique-Lal or Priyadarshan came from within the characters. Such humour that goes along with the storyline is more genuine. However, I think the style of using a parallel comedy track has been adopted from films from other languages. It is then that they create jokes, 90 % of which are misogynistic. The sad part is when many women approve of it. When something like menstruation is made into a vulgar comedy by a writer, you can’t call it creativity.
As an editor, how do you choose a film?
An editor may not be able to work with all directors. Their sensibilities should match somewhere. Only then can a creative exchange happen.
Turning screenwriter with Mili .
It was a shift from the table of an editor to one of a writer. Director (late) Rajesh Pillai and I had a lot of free time during the making of the Hindi version of Traffic. Mili was written then through our constant interactions.
How did Take Off take off?
The idea was inspired by the life of a friend, who had divorced and then became pregnant. At a certain point, she had to hide her pregnancy from her son. She believed that a daughter would have understood her situation better. That thought triggered the basic plot. The lead character was then placed in the 2014 incident when Malayali nurses were rescued after being held in captivity by terrorists in the Iraqi war zone.
Teaming up with Kamal Haasan in Vishwaroopam series ?
I regard him (Kamal) as my second film school, as someone from whom I learnt some new facets about the craft of filmmaking. As a filmmaker, he is so clear from the start to the finish. He taught me that geography shouldn’t be a barrier while shooting. That gave me the courage [during Take Off] to shoot most of the portions depicting a war zone in Iraq in Ras Al Khaimah.
So, when are you wielding the megaphone again?
My next as a director is once again with producer Anto Joseph and it will start rolling in July with Fahadh Faasil and Parvathy in the lead.
