With Ottamuri Velicham, Rahul Riji Nair crafted a taut albeit small film in a confined space. The film, which dealt with the rather disturbing subject of marital violence, got him the State Award for the Best Film. With a film like Ottamuri... as his breakout film, the bright and cheerful-looking Dakini is, perhaps, the last film one would expect from Rahul.
Of this change of pace, he says, “I don’t want to be branded as a filmmaker who makes a particular kind of films, in my case, not as someone who makes only ‘realistic’ films. I wanted to make a film in a popular genre – comedy and here I am with Dakini .” The genre may be popular, but it is still something of an experiment, a film with ‘ammoommas’. “In terms of business it might be different, but in terms of the creative process it wasn’t. I had of thought of this earlier.”
In one line— Dakini is about how four grandmothers take on an ‘underworld don’. The seniors in the film are Sarasa Balussery and Savithri Sreedharan (their last outing together was Sudani From Nigeria ), Pauly Valsan and Sethu Lakshmi. He has fond memories of filming in Ooty as temperatures dipped. “Despite their physical limitations, they were good sports. They inspired the crew, which was much younger than them, with their zeal, will power and mental strength. They would be sitting all wrapped up in blankets, but the minute they’d be called for a shot they would come do the scene and dive back into the blankets. They have put in a huge effort.”
If he were to sum up the experience of working with these women in a line, he says it would be ‘one surprise each day’. “And the surprise was for them,” he says laughing. Whether it was getting them to dance or getting into a camera-rigged car for a stunt, some of the time harmless subterfuge was involved. “When it came to dancing, they just wouldn’t give up. We’d feel that probably they are tired but they’d say ‘let’s do it, we don’t know when we will next get a chance to dance’.”
The bright colours of the promotional material gives a graphic comic-like feel, “There would be fun of reading a graphic comic, the palette is slightly exaggerated. Even the characters have a dash of that exaggeration.” The others in the cast include Indrans, Chemban Vinod Jose, Saiju Kurup and Aju Varghese besides others. “The approach to this film has been sincere, the comedy is not slapstick. I am very satisfied with the work we have put in. I am not at all nervous about it, we have put in our best.”
Ottamuri Vellicham
Ottamuri Vellicham is due for release online. “The India preview of the film will be at the Mumbai Film Festival (Mami), on October 25. It is the only Malyalam film there in the competition category. The online release will be afterwards.”
Ottamuri... has been feted on the international arena as well; it was adjudged the best at the India Film Festival Stuttgart and was the runner up at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival. Ottamuri... was the engineer’s first feature film. When he made the film, he says, he was confident about it but didn’t know the avenues to approach, or how to go about showing it.
The State Award got it the recognition. As the film travels the festival circuit and is done, he plans a limited theatre release (before the online release) for the small set of people like the film society crowd, which is looking forward to the film.
“The effort is to reach it to the grass roots.” The film will also be screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), “the place where I had access to world cinema. I feel with this the film would reach a wider audience.”
