On THAMPU (1978)
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On THAMPU (1978) When you planned the film THAMBU, what was uppermost in your mind: was it the problems and insecurities of the circus artists or the response of the villagers to the circus tent? I planned THAMBU as a documentary feature. The film was shot in Thirunavaya on the banks of Bharathapuzha. I came to this village with ten to fifteen circus artistes who had already left their circus company. We did not have a script, and we shot the incidents as they happened. What we did on the first day was to call all the villagers and perform a circus act for them. There were a lot of people who had not seen a circus before. We shot their responses as they were watching. We did not ask them to do anything. After the initial hesitation, they forgot the lights and the shooting and completely got involved in the circus. It was all very original. At that time the village was also getting ready for the Ayappan Vilaku festival, which we used in the film. Finally the whole village got so involved in preparing for its festival, they lost their interest in the circus. The film ends there. In fact it is a location film. Well, in THAMBU also, there is a discontented young man. This character was there in the film - young man from an upper middle class family returned from abroad and settled in the native land. I am fascinated by these kind of people. You see similar people in UTTARAYANAM also. This 'return' has been with us for a very very long time. Earlier people 'returned' from Singapore, Burma, Ceylon etc. Now they 'return' from the Gulf. That is the only difference. When they 'come back' they will build a big bungalow and live isolated from the others around. Their relationships are confined to those of similar 'type' - they will of course have their "weekend gatherings". The question is why do they 'come back' if they are unable to or do not want to mix with the people around? My young man is someone who is discontented with this sort of isolation and wants to be in tune with the people and surroundings. He does not like to sit at home. He starts learning to read Malayalam and then ask the circus whether he can join them and ultimately goes away with them. Just a small comment. Although apparently 'regional', your films, one could say are much broader - Indian. Your comments on contemporary issue reflect more a cynicism towards the present (as in your cartoons) than a nostalgic return to the past. To get back to the film - the young man has never been to see a circus, has he? No. When the circus goes back he just goes along with them. When a circus is on the move, the artists are resting or asleep. They have nothing to expect or remember from the places they visit or stay in. This young man takes a decision to go with them. Why? Perhaps a recognition that he is no different from them! Or is this decision merely coincidental? He could not get along with his family. To escape the home atmosphere he goes and finds a place under the Banyan tree and learns to read etc. I have included in the film the moment of his decision to join the circus. At home he was surrounded by rock music while he himself loves classical music. There you see him asking the circus to take him along. The circus manager tells him to get into the van. At that moment he has not identified himself with the circus - he is merely escaping from his environment. No one has taken note of him in the circus company. The film ends with the sequence of him sleeping by the side of the circus clown. For the circus, this journey is a stagnation. A period of rest, where as for the young man this trip is a progress and escape. We cannot really say predict what he will become or do... He could become anything...even a circus clown... We are not making it clear. The emphasis is on his escape from the immediate environment. As you are talking about the journey of the young man, it occurs to me that all your films have this aspect of a voyage to self-discovery or a 'movement' towards betterment of humanity. e.g. in KANCHANA SEETA, Rama carrying the sacrificial fire and going into the Sarayu River; in UTTARAYANAM, Ravi going into the forest; the arrivals and departures of the bogeyman in KUMMATTY according to the seasons; in CHIDAMBARAM Shankaran Kutty's search for peace in his troubled conscience etc. Your films seem to be myriad manifestations of the deep desire of human kind for answers, peace, meaning…? (Remains silent) On KUMMATTY (1979) You have directed KUMMATTY as a children's film. Can we really categorise it as such? Yes I think we can. What I have come to know is that the children who saw the film liked it. This film was appreciated in Japan and also screened in Channel 4 of BBC. Due to a lack of proper distribution system, this film could not be shown properly in India. While you were shooting for this film, did you give any special attention to the structure and details keeping in mind that it is oriented towards children? I have adopted a narrative style, which might interest the children and kept a positive ending. The story is like a folklore, which the children can easily identify with. The music and landscapes were chosen specially, keeping children in mind. Can you tell us a little about KUMMATTY? KUMMATTY arrives like the seasons. He represents spring. He comes in fact in spring when the rain is over and the plants are green and in bloom. KUMMATIY is part of that Nature. Yes, in the film KUMMATTY seems to emerge from Nature... KUMMATTY comes alive on to the screen from a vanishing point and disappears into a dissolve. In a sense therefore, he comes back from where he disappeared. The landscape in these scenes is also special. Why is that? Though the landscape is that of Kerala, in KUMMATTY it is not 'a typical' landscape. It has extensive vacant land with a few trees here and there; very few houses and little human habitation; people are very simple. I thought the lonely lanes and the solitude of the landscape will contribute to the film. We cannot say that a KUMMATTY is coming to a familiar place where there are a lot of people. For this story we needed a functional backdrop. What is unusual in our context is a commonplace occurrence in film. That is to say we constructed a reality out of the unreal. For example the boy Chintan transforms into a dog but he continues to live in his house. He is still treated as a son. The dog Chintan loses his way as he wanders and bumps into a wealthy family. Yes, and they send him off from there saying he has no pedigree. From there he returns home. In the beginning he is treated like a son. After sometime the family accepts it as a fact that he is 'transformed' into a dog. His friends see him on their way to school. At this moment he has communication only with the bird in the cage, which responds to the sounds he produces. This is also the time he becomes aware of 'bondage'. As soon as he recovers his human form he releases the bird from the cage. You should also remember that he used to hurt this bird earlier. In his own experience of bondage he understood the bondage of the 'Other'. This experience redefines his ideas and attitudes. How did you design KUMMATTY? I discussed the costume of KUMMATTY with the artist Namboodiri. I knew the actor Ravunni earlier. There is a scene in the film, where KUMMATTY removes his costume beard for a shave? KUMMATTY's is a dual persona. A real personality and an assumed one. If he is not this he will remain just as an idea. And if he remains as a concept he will not fit into the essence of the story. I wanted to show that apart from his supernatural image he is also real. Through the masks he is bringing, I have related him to the animal forms as well. I introduced the scene of 'shaving' to reveal these characteristics of KUMMATTY. His actual personality is located between myth and reality and yet there is no fantasy in it at all. People sometimes call him a thief. I have also introduced in the film, elements of magic and black art in the beginning before the arrival of KUMMATTY. The doctor in this film is also a magician. According to the doctor's diagnosis, the woman with the fits (to whom he is administering medicine) is possessed. It has to be treated with black art. In fact the children follow the doctor to the house of the sick woman. The idea is that children are growing up in an atmosphere where KUMMATTY will not be an unusual guest. Is not the pace and rhythm of KUMMATTY slow? A fast pace will not suit this story. It has to have an organic movement and rhythm of its own. It is said in the handout of KUMMATTY that this is the story of rebirths?! Well, there is not anything like that in the film. The suggestion in the handout was unnecessary.