The Hindu : National : A riveting tale of the early years of Tamils on film

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 02, 2006

National

National

A riveting tale of the early years of Tamils on film

Ramya Kannan

— Photo: S. R. Raghunathan

M.V. Baskar making a presentation of Ur, a video essay on Tamil.

CHENNAI: A "dignified introduction to Tamil language and culture" is how M.V. Bhaskar describes his project of three years — "Ur — A video essay on Tamil." And this former adman does not waste words.

"Ur," the first part of an exposition on Tamil language and culture, is a stylised 26-minute presentation that leaves you asking for more. The video glides through the music, images, archaeology and literary history of the first 800 years of known Tamil history.

The concept of the video evolved when E. Annamalai, former director, Central Institute of Indian Languages, currently a visiting Professor Emeritus at Yale University, decided there was insufficient audiovisual content available for those attracted to Tamil, the living classical language. When Prof. Annamalai was put in touch with Mr. Bhaskar, "Ur," the first instalment of a series, took shape. Co-director of the video K.T. Gandhirajan, an art historian who also lectures at the College of Fine Arts, Chennai, did painstaking research over several years to collate sources and symbols that could be captured on film.

Over 85 locations across the country were identified. For the first phase alone, Mr. Bhaskar took his mini-DV camera to over 35 locations, mostly in Tamil Nadu, but also in Orissa.

The prologue to the film is a scene out of Semmoothai, a play staged in Terrikkadu in Ramanathapuram district by the troupe "Manal Magudi." The camera then pans from Kanyakumari in the south to Mahabalipuram, explaining myth, the art of interpretation, epochs of poetry, the Sangam community, Brahmi caves, evolution of the Tamil script, and the influence of Jainism and medieval Hinduism.

What keeps the viewer hooked is the directors' ability to bolster their tale with riveting live performances such as the folk rendition of Silappadikaram on the banks of the Cauvery in Poompuhar, a classical dance ballet rendition of the same epic by Sreelatha Vinod, a numerical prayer by a Tamil Jain devotee and instrumental performances by Irulas, a tribal community in Tamil Nadu. This "entirely non-commercial" venture was kick-started with a Yale University subvention of $ 200 and as it grew over three years, Mr. Bhaskar (Ph: +91-44-24451594, E-mail: mvbhaskar@mac.com) funded it himself. The film is now available online on the Archaeology Channel (www.archaeologychannel.org) , a non-profit channel for streaming archaeology-related content. Mr. Bhaskar says a few limited DVDs/tapes of the video will be available in early August for educational and cultural purposes.

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