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‘Neelathamara’ blooms again

Three musketeers: M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Lal Jose and Suresh Kumar.

Mollywood has been beset with many problems of late, and recession has added to the woes of the cinema community. Now, a movement has begun consciously to bring in some kind of a system in Malayalam cinema so that losses become the exception rather than the rule as it has been lately.

A few producers and directors are now ready with a tentative answer, they hope, will turn the tide: to make movies with new faces, cutting costs by more than half.

The first effort in this direction is ‘Neelathamara,’ the first remake of a Malayalam movie in Malayalam, like ‘Dev D’ and a few other attempts in Hindi and Tamil. The M.T. Vasudevan Nair-Lal Jose team is getting together for the first time.

Producer Suresh Kumar, also the president of the Film Producers’ Association in the State, has taken the lead in producing this small budget movie, estimated at Rs. 1.5 crore under the banner of Revathy Kalamandir.

“This does not mean that superstars will not be cast in any movie. Those who have the money will cast them, but the way Malayalam cinema is going, I feel we need some kind of financial discipline if the industry is to survive. ‘Neelathamara’ is the first such attempt. More movies are being lined up by directors like Kamal, Jayaraj, Shaji Kailas and Ranjith,” he explains.

The one common pillar on which stand the new and old Neelathamara is M.T’s script. “It will be slightly altered, that’s all,” says the litterateur. While Yusuf Ali Kechery directed the old hit in 1979, Lal Jose is all wired up to begin direction in a few weeks at Kuttipuram, a totally different location from the first one, shot somewhere near Thrissur. “But the place will have temples, ponds. The old style house will have wooden steps to go upstairs ….,” MT adds, all essential backdrops for the story to unfold.

Thirty years ago, the simple film with heart-rending scenes and emotions captured the hearts of both the young and the old. Except for M.T. and Suresh Kumar who ‘saw the film 15 times’ while still at school and loved it intensely, no one else in the unit has seen the movie, not even Lal Jose. “I don’t want to see the film as it will affect my originality. I would not like any of the artistes either to see the movie for they will be confused about whether to do it that way or their own way and about comparisons,” says the director.

M.T. gets nostalgic about his story and his characters: Kunjimalu, the hapless girl, Hari and Sharath Kochammini. The story will remain unchanged in its new avatar, he says. MT is optimistic about the response of the people to a remake. “There have been many Hamlets staged and filmed. Effective communication is the key. With advanced technology and new artists, the film will have its own merits,” he feels.

Kunjimalu, the lead, was played by Ambika. Archana the new face, who is Delhibased, will take on that role. Archana says she was made to wear the costume of the character during an interaction with M.T. before she was chosen for the role.

Kailash, who was shortlisted and told to grow a beard, finally made it to the role of the hero, Hari, played by Ravi Kumar in the old version. Suresh Nair, who is Ambika’s brother, plays the villain, the role that Sathar played. Rima Kallunkal plays the role of Sharath Kochammini and Samvrutha Sunil, that of the new bride who comes into the house.

Whilst the first ‘Neelathamara’ had haunting music by Devarajan and a few strains of humming by the character Sukkukutti Bhagavathar there will be two songs, keerthans, in this version, composed by Vidyasagar and written by Saratchandra Varma. Vijay Ulaganathan is the cinematographer. Shooting is expected to be over in 40 days, with another new set of rules being put in place on location, to cut costs.

“Mobile phones have been banned from the set. Only the producer and production manager are allowed to have phones. This is to save time,” explains Suresh.

M.T. adds: “Rules have been in place in other countries on film sets. In Hollywood, banks that lent money used to send their representatives to monitor the proceedings and to check if there was any kind of wastage. A system should always be in place and some kind of assessment,” chips in M.T., whose last foray into cinema was as the director of ‘Oru Cheru Punchiri,’ in which he dealt with old age and companionship in a positive way, in 2000. It did not have his own script and was adapted from Telugu writer Sriramana’s short story.

‘“Pazhassiraja,’ to be released shortly, has his script. The new ‘Neelathamara’ is his current obsession, though for the last five years M.T. has been working on a novel, which is all ‘ready in his mind,’ he says. Whether this first remake of a Malayalam movie with new stars will usher in a new trend and save Malayalam cinema from a financial impasse will be seen soon.

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