Trailing an icon
BHAWANI CHEERATH
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C. Sarat Chandran’s ‘Ningalude Viswasthan, John’ reflects the life and work of John Abraham.
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pointing the way: A still from the film “Ningalude Viswasthan, John.’
A man who touched many lives, an icon, a maverick filmmaker, a rebel, an enigma, an extraordinarily free soul … these epithets sound clichéd when one describes filmmaker John Abraham. ‘Ningalude Viswasthan, John,’ a video essay by C. Sarat Chandran brings us closer to the person who lived life on the edge, through reminiscences of those who were close to him.
Screened on the occasion of his 71st birth anniversary, the film trails his childhood, the years at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, his style of filmmaking, his convictions, all through the ill-defined contours of his life.
Rare persona
While undertaking this personal journey of re-telling the life of a person “who inspired me like none else,” the director says, all along it was also an exercise in presenting the truth, “or else I’d be failing the man.”
It took Sarat Chandran eight years to put the 108-minute-long video essay together. He had to edit 160 hours of interviews with scores of people from all walks of life.
The dedication in the exercise is evident in the final product. John Abraham, as a human being, set no rules in his relationships and it is for that freedom that he is remembered in awesome fondness by a whole generation who were impacted by this rare personality.
Contemporaries like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, and K.G. George who knew him from his days at the FTII look back at this man marked for his unorthodox approach. The themes he used for his films and the manner of filmmaking have always been path breaking.
Fond memories
Recalling the manner in which John encouraged him, T.V. Chandran said John did not typecast him as ‘a mere actor.’
For Beena Paul Venugopal, it was a throwback to her first days in FTII and an unending stream of memories. Close associates like N.L. Balakrishnan and Neelan, Nedumudi Venu, old-timers like Madhu Master, Odessa Ammad and Purushan, too reminisced the legend.
Clippings from his films (‘Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile,’ ‘Agraharathile Kazhutha,’ ‘Cheriyachante Krurakrithyangal’ and ‘Amma Ariyan’) put in perspective the visual language of films which was delineated upon by film critics C.S. Venkiteswaran and V.C. Harris.
That he was no taskmaster was transparent in the words of actor Kaviyoor Ponnamma, when she said, “Films… that was all that filled his mind. Going for shoots with John was quite unlike any other. We moved with him and shot with absolutely no pressure whatsoever.”
Although he was influenced by ideology, he was not one to be shackled by its bonds when it came to films, at least beyond a point. His most significant contribution was that he sowed the seeds of ‘people’s film’ and displayed the ‘audacity’ to take on the establishment and the shackling distribution network. It is sad that the movement did not grow beyond Odessa, get the nourishment it deserved and muster the strength it ought to have.
Poet Balachandran Chullikad spoke for all of us when he summed it up thus, “I too shared the ideas John had nurtured, but lacked his courage and his tenacity.” We all stuck to the beaten track, didn’t we?
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