Invite to a gala wedding
SARASWATHY NAGARAJAN
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‘Seeta Kalyanam’ revolves around relationships that metamorphose during the rituals of a typical Brahmin wedding.
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On relationships: ‘Seeta Kalyanam.’
It is a creative venture by three friends who joined hands to work together in a film titled ‘Seeta Kalyanam.’ Film director T.K. Rajeev Kumar, producer Suresh Kumar and playback singer Srinivas decided to pool their talent to come up with an entertainer that revolves around relationships that metamorphose during the rituals of a typical Brahmin wedding spread over seven days.
The emotional aspects of a big fat Indian wedding, complete with hordes of relatives, music, food, flowers, fun and laughter and its impact on relationships is the premise of the film scripted by Rajeev himself.
It was to have been a landmark in the career of many in the creative team. It should have been Srinivas’ debut as a music composer. Director of photography Rajiv Ravi was then an up-and-coming youngster from the Film and Television Institute of India. Jayaram and Jyothika, then at the peak of her career in Tamil films, play the lead in the multi-starrer that includes Geethu Mohandas, Sukumari, Janardhanan, Jagadish, Kalpana and Bindu Pannicker.
However, the film had to wait a while to reach the screens and so many of those involved in the film moved on to make their mark in various creative spheres. But finally ‘Seeta Kalyanam’ reaches theatres today. Producer Suresh Kumar admits that it is a relief that the film sees light after a protracted struggle to reach it to theatres. Shot extensively in the heritage area of the capital city, the film is a musical with seven songs.
Familiar milieu
“It is a milieu I am familiar with and I have tapped that to tune the lyrics of the songs. For instance, nagaswarams playing Bilahari in the morning evokes the aroma of breakfast at a Brahmin wedding. But the music of the songs go beyond that. It incorporates the musical influences of Hindustani music and of ghazals; it also has the influence of the cadences of Mehdi Hassna, R.D. Burman and Kishore Kumar,” says Srinivas. The album of the film was released in Thiruvananthapuram by none other than A.R. Rahman.
“Music plays an important part in any Indian wedding and so the songs are an intrinsic part of the film. Janardhanan and Kalpana lead a team of nagaswaram players. So the songs were not added as an after thought,” explains Rajeev who emphasises that the film would not have taken off without the creative space provided by Suresh who unquestioningly backed his team.
“There were days when the cast had to be present from 9 a.m. to midnight. To break the monotony of the shots, we have used mirrors in the shots. So the cast had to be there in the background and all the actors, including senior artistes cooperated with us. Suresh’s wife, Menaka, pitched in as costume designer and since the cast had to be present there most of the time, it really felt like a family reunion,” adds Rajiv.
Suresh chips in to remind Rajeev how actor Vikram had told the director about Jyothika gushing about ‘Seeta Kalyanam.’
Moving on
With the release of ‘Seeta Kalyanam,’ the three buddies move on to their next projects. While Rajiv is all gung ho about his next project in Malayalam with Mohanlal and Sreenivasan, Srinivas is engrossed in the background music of ‘Khusti,’ Rajeev’s remake of ‘Mutharamkunnu P.O.’ in Hindi. “Incidentally, it stars WWF wrestler The Great Khali also,” says Rajeev with a smile.
Meanwhile, the three friends are all set to celebrate the release of their first venture today.
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