Her story on celluloid
ABDUL LATHEEF NAHA
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Suresh Kohli's documentary on Kamala Suraiyya was premiered on the campus of Calicut University.
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AUTHOR SPEAK: M.T. Vasudevan Nair watching the documentary on Kamala Suraiyya.
Yet another film documenting the life of writer Kamala Suraiyya has been premiered. The 28-minute film titled `Kamala Das: An Introduction,' made by documentary filmmaker Suresh Kohli for Kendra Sahitya Akademi, was screened to a packed audience at Calicut University early this week.
Although Kohli, who was present at the premiere along with Jnanpith laureate M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Sahitya Akademi secretary A. Krishnamurthy, said that he tried to portray the entire literary life of Suraiyya, the film lacked the strength to buttress his claim.
According to Kohli, the writer herself went through the script and saw the documentary. However, certain aspects of her life, including the controversy over her conversion to Islam, were not included in the film, he added.
Before the show, M.T. said Suraiyya is an interesting subject for a movie.
The film begins by showing the writer's ancestral home and some old family photographs. With a rapid commentary, the film hastily shifts to Suraiyya's literary works after a quick pan shot of the countless trophies and citations she has been awarded over the years.
Through her works
Apart from making Suraiyya talk about her life and works, the filmmaker turns to writers and academics such as K. Sachitanandan, Keki Daruwala, Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Purendra Chatterjee, C.V. Harris and Namita Gokhale to explore her vision through her works. The poet's Canadian biographer Merrily Weisbord is also brought in towards the end.
Besides Sachitanandan, comments of more Malayali authors could have been added to enrich the documentary on one of Kerala's greatest literary personalities and beloved writer of short stories.
The film, made for the archives of the Sahitya Akademi, is the latest addition to the Akademi's storehouse of documentaries on great writers.
The film shows Suraiyya in different outfits, wearing black, red and white gowns with matching headscarves. The director has made an earnest attempt to show the poet's life at home. But many scenes in the film seems to be stating the obvious and does not add to the information of an audience that knows much more about Suraiyya than the filmmaker.
In her inimitable style, the poet shows her attitude towards the opposite sex: "A woman is most attractive when she surrenders to the man."
More could have been shown about her family and her kin who played a significant role in the shaping of her life. Some of the frames were unnecessary as it did not help in carrying the documentary forward.
The film will be screened in New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram in the first and third weeks of August respectively. It would also be shown at Frankfurt in the first week of October, on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Book Festival. The film would be telecast on Doordarshan too.
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