Making films has always been a struggle for Manoj Kana. It was not due to shortage of ideas, but of resources. For making his first film ‘Chayilyam’ in 2014, his Neru films collective went around the State, organising street plays to raise funds. The model proved to be successful, although he had to go through another round of struggle for a couple of years to get it to the theatres.
The story behind his second film ‘Amoeba’, on the plight of Endosulfan victims, too was no different. The shooting of his third film ‘Kenjira’ was completed two years ago, but he had to wait two more years for the post-production to be completed, again due to a paucity of funds. A strong community of supporters, who have been with him from his early days as a playwright, has kept him in good stead whenever the going seemed tough.
‘Kenjira’, which is being screened in the Malayalam Cinema Now category at the 24th International Film Festival of Kerala, brings together all that he has experienced over the past decades of working closely with the tribal community of Wayanad.
“I have witnessed all of these stories over the past 23 years of living and working with the Paniya community. The rape of a tribal girl by a landlord, and the later framing of fake charges against a tribal youth, are all from a real incident which happened back in the late 1990s,” says Manoj, in an interview with The Hindu .
This experience of decades has perhaps aided him in avoiding the outsider perspective, which many films on tribal issues are often affected by. He says the experience has aided him in looking outwards, from within the community. The film, which has first-time actors from Paniya villages of Wayanad, has been made in the Paniya language.
The entire cast and crew pitched in to build the main location – a Paniya colony with 13 huts. Although the plan initially was to build a set using professional help, the amount quoted was unaffordable to them. So, Manoj and the rest of the team set about constructing the huts with bamboo and reed, from scratch.
“I have tried to talk comprehensively about issues faced by the Paniya community through the film. Many of the government projects for the community are made by people who do not understand their lifestyle. Even their food habits have changed over the years due to this, leading to health issues. The government and the public are of the opinion that these communities would never improve whatever is provided to them, which is a wrong way to look at these things,” says Manoj.
Twenty years ago, after starvation deaths rocked Wayanad, Manoj and seven others went around the State with a street play titled ‘Pattini maranam’, to counter the then government’s claim that the deaths were not due to starvation. Some of those who were with him back then are still with him in ‘Kenjira’. For Manoj, each film or play is not a standalone project. It is all one single work in progress.
