Sometime in the late 1960s, a group of people crowded inside a studio room in Madras to watch the rushes of the Malayalam film Tharavattamma . Director P Bhaskaran, producer Vasu Menon, actors, technicians, friends and family members were all there. When the lights came on and Bhaskaran asked if everything was okay, he was met with nodding heads, smiles and monosyllabic approvals. From a corner of the room, a youngster mumbled that he found the climax unconvincing. Menon tried to brush aside his nephew’s comment, but Bhaskaran agreed with the view. It was decided to shoot the scene again.
Cinema experience
For the youngster, N Mohandas, it was a life-changing moment. On his summer vacation after graduating in Chemistry, this was the start of a long stay in Madras. “Sensing my interest in films, my uncle decided to find a job for me in the film industry. He got me introduced to SS Vasan’s son-in-law who gave me a job as chemist in the film lab at Gemini Studio,” recalls Mohandas, who has seen the highs and lows of this profession in over five decades.
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What is forgotten in today’s digital age is that it was technicians like Mohandas, who with their expertise, helped filmmakers achieve their artistic expectations. They were responsible for special film processing and the production of billions of release prints per year. Their work allowed an expanded motion picture audience and unequalled cinema experience.
Mohandas worked at Gemini for a little more than four years. “When I joined, the Gemini Lab was in the process of standardisation. Chief technicians from almost all the prominent film companies were there. This helped me acquire a hands-on experience. When they left they gave me the books they had bought. Those were years of study and learning-on-the-job. My job entailed ensuring the quality of the prints working in tandem with the colour grading section.”
The Gemini stint brought Mohandas in touch with legendary actors, technicians, producers and directors. “So many Indian films were processed at Gemini. I remember MGR’s
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By then Vasu Menon had started Vasu Studios and produced some blockbuster Tamil and Hindi films like Ore Vazhi (1959), Kairasi (1960), Poovum Pottum (1968), Waaris (1969), Khaandaan (1965), Maalik (1972), and Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (1970). Menon asked Mohandas to take charge of the black-and-white lab in his studio, which he did. But Mohandas stayed only for a short while.
“While at Gemini I was in constant touch with most of the Malayalam producers, directors and cinematographers. Some of them would ask me to take special care to make their their films look good. When I moved to Vasu Studio, most Malayalam producers and directors moved with me.”
When Sen Gupta, who had leased out New Era Lab that functioned out of Vikram Studio, died suddenly, Mohandas decided to take over the lab. “Actor Adoor Bhasi agreed to invest in the project on condition that his brother Chandraji be on board as partner. Thus, along with Chandraji, I started RK Laboratory for processing black-and-white films and soon upgraded it as RK Colour Film Laboratory (RKCFL) Pvt. Ltd.”
Within a short time RKCFL roped in reputed clients. “Making use of my contacts and that of Adoor Bhasi and Chandraji, we were able to get almost 75% of Malayalam films to our lab and also a few Hindi and other South Indian language films. Encouraged by the growth of business, we set up a recording centre, established RK Film Distributors and RK Agencies, the former for exporting films and the latter for sale of raw positive films.”
Besides, they also produced a Malayalam television serial for Asianet. “This was a dubbed version of the popular Hindi serial Nukkad titled Kavala . We ran a few episodes but were forced to stop as we had to buy slots and also find means to fund it.”
The golden era
Mohandas remembers the time when many of the doyens of the industry such as Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Aravindan, John Abraham, Ramu Kariat, KS Sethumadhavan, RS Prabhu, A Vincent, Kunchacko, TE Vasudevan, P Bhaskaran had their works processed here.
This was the time when Mohandas was nominated member of various committees such as South India Film Chamber, Script Committee of the National Film Development Corporation, Malayalam Chalachitra Parishath and South Indian Cine Laboratory Association. He, along with veteran producer RS Prabhu and another partner, produced a Malayalam film, Bheeshmacharya , directed by Cochin Haneefa.
Then, life slowly began to fall apart. Technology brought in radical changes. Digitisation made film prints redundant and it spelt the death knell for film labs. “There used to be a time when we used to have a whole floor filled with prints in huge metal boxes to be transported to various centres before the release. For some films we had 500 to 600 prints. All this changed. We did not have the resources to ring in the new technologies and to compete with the big players Sensing the end of such small labs, I decided to close down the business in 1999.”
Mohandas sold the equipment to his friend Ramesh Prasad of Prasad Studio and left to Coimbatore where he had built a house. “I had bought land at Pollachi where I thought of setting up a farm. I also bought a theatre here. But that move backfired. With no experience in managing a theatre I ran into heavy debt. This, clubbed with my family responsibilities, forced me to sell the land and house.”
Fiercely independent, Mohandas didn’t complain. He stuck on bravely. “Some old friends helped me. Abhirami Ramanathan put me as finance controller for a film, Panchamrutham he was producing. That film did not do well. I then worked as a facilitator for ‘sourcing’ theatres on lease for Ad Labs (Reliance). And then for the last three years I have been working as a business consultant for Prasad Group.”
All the while Mohandas kept stoking the dream of starting a studio. In 2012, he started Varnalaya Visuals Pvt. Ltd. in Kochi. “I’m indebted to two people for this — the late TE Vasudevan and NG John, popular as Geo Kuttappan. They went out of their way to help me set up this facility. I began from Navodaya Studio, Kakkanad, and now function from Gandhi Nagar. It has post-production facilities and we have completed work for more than 25 films. Varnalaya has been recognised and included in the panel of Chitranjali Studios and Kerala Chalachithra Academy.”
One of the films to come out of Varnalaya is Sreenivasan’s latest, Ayaal Sasi . “Things have come a full circle. I worked on Sreenivasan’s first film Manimuzhakam and now his latest. So many reels have unspooled since; so many people, so many lives.”