Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
The solitary traveller
P.K. AJITH KUMAR
|
Babu Thiruvalla turns a director with ‘Thaniye,’ which deals with the relationship between a lonely, elderly man and his home nurse.
|
I became fascinated by cinema after watching films by directors like Bharathan and K.G. George.
On solitude: Nedumudi Venu and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy in Babu Thiruvalla’s ‘Thaniye.’
When Babu Thiruvalla decided to produce a film, back in the 1980’s, Malayalam cinema was going through its golden period. His first production, ‘Oru Minnaminungintte Nurunguvettom,’ directed by Bharathan, was about the relationship
between an elderly couple and a teenaged girl who enters their life.
Twenty years and six films later, Babu has turned director with ‘Thaniye.’ A remarkable debut that is a reflection of the societal milieu in Kerala. An issue that is bound to have far reaching repercussions in our society. It is about an ill old man who is forced to live alone in a large bungalow as his only child is settled in the United States (U.S.), and his special relationship with a home nurse. Nedumudi Venu is brilliant as the protagonist, while Lakshmi Gopalaswamy gives a memorable performance as the dutiful nurse.
Babu, who also wrote the script along with Nedumudi, succeeds in telling the story without any frills. ‘Thaniye’ makes you nostalgic about the Malayalam cinema of the ‘80’s.
“I became fascinated by cinema after watching films by directors like Bharathan and K.G. George in the 80’s, when good cinemas used to do well at the box office whether they featured superstars or not. Malayalam cinema has changed a lot since then, but I wanted to direct a good film, without bothering about the commercial aspects,” says Babu, who was in Kozhikode recently for a preview of ‘Thaniye.’ The film was borne out of a scene he witnessed in his hometown of Thiruvalla a few years ago, he reveals. “At the funeral of a wealthy Christian gentleman, I saw this young girl weeping her eyes out, while the rest of the people assembled seemed unaffected by the tragedy. I thought the girl must have been closely related to the dead man. I was surprised to find out that she was his home nurse.”
The producers
‘Thaniye’ took off when a few non-resident Indians agreed to produce the film. “There is an organisation called ‘Friends of Thiruvalla’ in Doha. ‘Thaniye’ happened because men like K.C. Chacko, K.C. James, Mathew C. Kurian and Mony Kongara were willing to invest in a good film,” says Babu.
He is confident that ‘Thaniye’ wouldn’t be a losing proposition financially, because it was made on a shoe-string budget.
“I made this film because this is what is happening in places like Thiruvalla these days. The parents are alone at home, while their children are working abroad. When the film was shown at Bahrain, the first thing a family there did was to call their parents in Kerala. They told me that they hadn’t talked to their parents for years. I felt very happy, because I found that the message of my film had reached the people.”
Babu says he could think of only Nedumudi to play the role of George Kutty.
Team work
“And, of course, he is not just an actor; he is well-versed in many aspects of film-making. Both of us worked hard on the script. I am also indebted to a few others who contributed, creatively, to the film, like writer A.S. Priya; she was the one who named the film ‘Thaniye.’ I am also grateful to director Jayaraj, who always egged me on to direct a film.”
Why didn’t he produce the film himself?
“Because I thought if I could find somebody else to produce it, why should I take the additional responsibility while directing. I have lost money in cinema. When I produced ‘Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettom,’ along with Panthalam Gopinath, I had left behind a flourishing garment business in Saudi Arabia. But I have no regrets. I wouldn’t have been happy in my life if I didn’t make the kind of films I made.”
Babu was 25 when he decided to turn a producer. “When I went to Chennai to meet Bharathan my intention was to learn direction under him. But he told me that he wasn’t going to direct another film for some time because his last film had flopped. I said I was willing to produce a film. I produced the film along with Pathalam Gopinath.
“My parents were against me joining films, but I had told my wife, Heera, who is the grand daughter of the legendary theatre actor Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar, before I married her, that I would be making films and she had no objections to it. So the die was cast and I turned a producer and now a director.”
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
