Neethi (meaning justice in Malayalam) got his name from yesteryear Malayalam film star Sathyan’s first Tamil film Lokaneethi. “My father was so inspired, he decided to name me Neethi,” says the veteran poster designer, who goes by his screenname Neethi Kodungallur. “Love for cinema runs in the family!” he adds.
Neethi was in school when the 1965 Ramu Kariat blockbuster Chemeen released and almost all the walls in town displayed posters of the film. Neethi was fascinated by them; he would gaze at the posters on his way to school and back. “That has to be my earliest inspiration. I could not shake the images of Karuthamma (Sheela) and Pareekutty (Madhu) from my mind. I was hooked,” he says.
Poster of Kanalaattam | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
He realised he had found the dream and the desire to become a poster artist. Soon after he completed studies at the Government Occupational Institute in Thrissur, he started networking through a few contacts in the industry. But it was not until 1978 that he landed his first project, Gandharvam, a B K Pottekkad film starring Prem Nazir.
The film was the starting point of what would be an illustrious career spanning 300 films. Neethi’s posters became the window to popular films that released in the late 70s and 80s including landmark ones such as Itha Ivide Vare, Palattu Kunhikannan, Sanchari, Theeram Thedunna Thira, Kolangal, Mela, Yavanika, Palangal, Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback… to mention only a few.
His early experience in calendar design helped. He had worked as an assistant to a calendar artist in Sivakasi. But the film dream kept haunting him and Neethi packed his bags for Chennai (then Madras). He was friendly with many of the leading directors in Malayalam at the time including Bharathan, K G George, Hariharan, I V Sasi, and Thulasidas among others. “I was hugely inspired by the senior poster artists of the time S A Nair, P N Menon, RK Radhakrishnan. I admire the works of Gayathri Ashokan and Sabu Colonial and Akkitham Narayanan,” says Neethi.
“In those days the director would give us an album of the film and we would take photos that would attract people to the theatres. For instance, for one of Mammootty’s earliest films Mela, I decided to use Mammottty’s face on the poster; I knew it would draw people to the film,” he says.
Poster of Kolangal | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Flipping through the album, he would get an idea about the theme, the main characters and the highlights of the film, says Neethi. An artist at heart, Neethi tried to make each poster his canvas, filling in the background with painterly strokes. “Of course, the director would brief me on the characters who had to be highlighted. The distributors would want to highlight the matinee idols, the stunt scenes, etc. At the end of the day, it is about business,” he shares.
Cinema poster making treads the cautious space between art and commerce, says Neethi. “One has to satisfy the market as well as satiate the artist in oneself.”
Mammootty drawn by Neethi | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Neethi has designed posters in Tamil, Kannada and for about 15 English films by Jackie Chan and Jet Li. In addition, he designed photo cards and slides, which were an integral part of film screenings at the time.
Things have changed drastically now, with posters being done on the computers using graphic designing and editing tools. “Everything had to be done manually in the digital era, it was hard, but it was satisfying,” he adds.
The 71-year-old, who currently lives in Pooppathy, says the last film we worked in was Thulasidas’ Suddhamaddalam in 1993. He has updated his skill, and tries out new editing tools. “I would love to make a poster for a film now,” he signs off.
