Analyzing Maniratnam's Movie 'Anjali' As a Genre Of
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Volume III, Issue IV, June 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 ANALYZING MANIRATNAM’S MOVIE ‘ANJALI’ AS A GENRE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE R. Tamil Selvi1 Assistant Professor (Senior Grade) Department of English PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Neelambur Coimbatore, TN Dr. G. Baskaran2 HoD and Dean Faculty of English and Foreign Languages Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, TN India Abstract Children‟s Literature is defined as any material that is written for, and read by, that group referred to as „children‟ by any particular society. The constant urge for literature students to bring film and books on an equal platform, has resulted in various experimentation in literature as well as film studies. This papers aims at analyzing Mani Ratnam‟s movie, Anjali as a genre of children‟s literature, since it involves the portrayal of the life of children living in an apartment. To better understand the movie in a literary context, Freytag‟s pyramid of construction of a plot has been taken into consideration. The five important elements of the movie, namely, characterization, point of view, setting, plot and music has been discussed. Key words: Children‟s Literature, Mani Ratnam, Freytag‟s pyramid Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal www.ijellh.com 779 Volume III, Issue IV, June 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 Introduction Before the nineteenth century, very few books were exclusively written for children. Since then, changing attitudes towards childhood and children‟s development, along with the increased sophistication of print technology, have led to the development of children‟s literature as a major industry. There is, however, no simple, straightforward definition of children‟s literature that can be applied with equal validity at different times and in different contexts. Just as concepts of „child‟, 'childhood‟ and „literature‟ have changed over time, so too have definitions of „children‟s literature‟. This approach to defining children‟s literature excludes books that are read by, but not primarily intended for, children. Even so, to define children‟s literature in terms of intended readership alone is potentially problematic in that it allows for the inclusion of, for example, textbooks which would not normally be considered to come within the domain of children‟s literature. Thus, „children‟s literature‟ is defined here as any material that is written for, and read by, that group referred to as „children‟ by any particular society. This leaves open for the moment the argument of what constitutes „good‟ or „effective‟ children‟s literature. Then there came an era where the printed media became less attractive for children. The monotony of reading stories and narrative fiction could not help them experience the taste of literature. That is exactly when movies came into picture. They fascinated their little world with eye-catching visual elements. It was indeed a visual treat thus enabling young people to broaden their worldview through the imaginative apprehension of new experiences. A review of the film theory and the film studies literature suggests some unique features of film that make it an uncommonly powerful teaching tool to understand Children‟s Literature. Film records physical reality but sees it differently from ordinary human experiences (Andrew, 1984; Arnheim 1957). Film is unequaled in its ability to hold and direct the attention of the viewer. Lens techniques, focusing techniques, camera movements, camera angles, framing of shots, and film editing can create gripping views not found in reality (Carroll 1985). This paper summarizes these major film characteristics. This paper focuses on the genre of film as it more or less involves the process of writing a novel from an initial story idea or commission through story writing, editing and finally publishing to an audience to form a final product called a book. Though there are debates over the comparison of book and film, this paper attempts to analyze the film, Anjali, directed by Mani Ratnam, as a genre of Children‟s Literature. Mani Ratnam is one of the most Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal www.ijellh.com 780 Volume III, Issue IV, June 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 popular, contemporary film directors in India. He has revolutionized the Indian Film Industry in general with technically strong films, and has a tremendous script based on stories which are very close to reality. A few examples to quote would be the movies Roja, Bombay, Yuva, Guru. Every frame in a Mani Ratnam film is perfectly composed and beautifully backlit even if this style involves total violation of tonal, focal and colour continuity. He is the pride of the entire nation and an idol for many filmmakers. Literature students would love to watch his movies to learn the nuances of scriptwriting, narrative techniques, Dialogue, Plot construction etc., Filmmaking takes place all over the world in a huge range of economic, social and political contexts, using a variety of technologies and techniques. One of Mani Ratnam's masterpieces, Anjali, tackles a difficult topic of mental illness head-on, telling the story of a young family's struggle to raise a child with severe learning difficulties. Following a problematic birth, mother of two, Chitra, is devastated to learn that her baby Anjali was stillborn. Slowly the family learns to live with their loss but years later their lives are once more disrupted when it is discovered that Chitra's husband, Sekhar, has been hiding a dark secret; their daughter, Anjali, is not dead but hidden away in a home for the mentally disabled. When she is brought to live at the family home, the real challenge begin for the family, as together they must overcome their own prejudices and those of their neighbours. The reason why this film can be considered as a genre of Children‟s literature is because the whole movie revolves around children, their likes, dislikes, behaviour and attitude towards the society they live in. The protagonist of the movie is Anjali, a four year old girl who suffers from Down syndrome. She has an elder brother and sister namely Arjun and Anu who first refuse to accept Anjali as a part of their family. So do their friends living in the colony who go to an extent of teasing Anjali. But later they come to realise her as a pretty innocent girl and shower all their love and affection towards her. To appreciate a movie like Anjali, it helps to know something about the medium of motion pictures: how films are made, who contributes to their production, and how the basic elements of filmmaking like lighting, sound, and editing shape a film into a work of art. Mani Ratnam has adapted his typical style of direction when it mattered to cinematography, editing and music done by Madhu Ambat, Lenin-V. T. Vijayan and Maestro Ilaiyaraja, respectively. And that justifies the reason for the movie winning three national awards. "A whole is what has a beginning and middle and end", said Aristotle in Poetics. Therefore, every plot is considered as a „whole‟; in other terms, it tries to adhere to the narrative Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal www.ijellh.com 781 Volume III, Issue IV, June 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 structure of „unity‟ put forth by Aristotle in 350 B.C. The Freytag‟s Pyramid of the construction of plot, gives us a clear picture of how a work of art can be analyzed from the point of view of a plot. According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts, which some refer to as a dramatic arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement. The Movie „Anjali‟ perfectly falls in line with the above said Freytag‟s pyramid. The director introduces the plot in the very beginning of the movie as we see in the first scene the characters Arjun and Anu trying to catch a taxi for their mother to be taken to the hospital to deliver the „special child‟, Anjali. The rising complication of the plot starts when Sekhar is being observed by Arjun and later by chitra, talking with the doctor secretively about the condition of Anjali taken care of separately at a child care. In a tug-of-war between Anjali versus the apartment children, Anjali wins over the crowd and is loved by all. The climax of the movie indeed is very touching when Anjali is bed ridden and her health starts deteriorating. The death of Anjali marks the denouement of the movie leaving the audience in tears. The movie also sends a silent message to the audience about the sufferings of children who are mentally diseased in the society and how they are being denied of love and care from their family and society. Elements of Fiction in Film Since films tell stories, they involve many of the elements of fiction that novels do. Having read about the movie, we might look at the way these elements are treated in the film. The following are the elements based on which a movie can be analysed. 1. Characterization Movies speak to us in images and sounds, so every character is a performance, an interpretation of the script. The story is emphatically conveyed only through the characters. Our conception of character depends heavily on the way a particular actor looks, acts, and speaks. In the movie „Anjali‟, Sekhar (Raguvaran) and Chitra (Revathy) play the role of father and mother of Arjun (Tarun), Anu (Shruthi) and Anjali (Baby Shamili). All the main characters are introduced in the very first scene except Anjali, who joins the family only in the later part of the movie. Mani Ratnam has portrayed both Sekhar and Chitra as affectionate, loving and caring parents. Both Arjun and Anu stand as a real-life portrayal of today‟s children in our houses.