Namboodiri — Varayude Kulapathy

‘Namboodiri — Varayude Kulapathy'

Everyone is familiar with Artist Namboodiri's (K.M. Vasudevan Namboothiri) illustrations, whether it is a little boy with wonder in his eyes, looking up, women with prominent bosoms or simply landscapes, of temples or streets. But we have never seen them spring to life and do a jig, as in the credits of ‘Namboodiri — Varayude Kulapathy,' the documentary on Namboodiri, directed by Binuraj Kalapeedhom, under the banner of Ask Movies.

These graphics, done by Ajoy Kumar D., lead you into the life and times of thespian Namboodiri, who is as busy at age 86 as he was when he drew all over the walls of Karuvattu Mana in Ponnani, as a child. The winner of Raja Ravi Varma Award and an artist who has, throughout his life, engaged with art and art alone, and lived by it, Namboodiri wields the brush, sketch pencil, chisel or the hammer (for metal reliefs) with equal ease.

Travelling with Namboodiri

These aspects are brought to the viewer in descriptive visuals rather than a narrative style, so that Binuraj takes us along with Namboodiri to the locales that made him, his birthplace, and the Shukapuram temple near his house which had sculptures that influenced Namboodiri deeply. “I had this urge to draw and mould sculptures after seeing these,” says Namboodiri.

In the initial part of the 44-minute documentary, we see a child learning vedas, trying his hand at sculpture and drawing on the walls, all in black and white.

His guru, K.C.S. Panikkar, and life at the Art School in Chennai, which shaped his life into this direction, Cholamandalam, his innings at a Malayalam weekly, where he drew illustrations for the weekly for a long time, association with M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Aravindan are all brought back to us. (He did art direction for Aravindan's ‘Utharayanam' and won a State award for it). M.V. Devan and M.T. speak about Namboodiri. Apart from Ponnani, actual locations in Kozhikode, Kollam, Chennai and Kochi were used.

Tracing Namboodiri’s life

Some footage has been kept aside for his family and friends too, so that we get a fair idea of Namboodiri from childhood to his eighties. He has so positive an attitude and retirement seems to be just nowhere in sight. Namboodiri wears colourful shirts in the documentary, and Binuraj says he always asked whether the shots were close ups, full or ‘above the waist' to be prepared for it. “When I felt that a shot was not satisfactory, he would sense it and ask whether a retake was needed. It was such a pleasure and learning process, shooting him,” says Binuraj, who spent more than two years on this project, produced by Shafeer Abbas.

It is being readied to be sent to several film festivals. Yesudas sings, with music by Malkoms.

This is Binuraj's fourth documentary. The others were on M.K. Sanoo, former Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer and the Marthoma Cathedral at Mulanthuruthy. He was art director of K.S. Prasad's ‘Comediyum, Mimicsum Pinne Njanum' and won the award for the art direction of it six years ago. His next project is a music-based feature film to be shot at Tanjavur and on the locations where ‘Malgudi Days' were shot, says Binuraj.

Song of the Little Road

Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road)
1955, India. 115 min, B/W, In Bengali with subtitles. Credits Producer: Government of West Bengal Screenplay & Direction: Satyajit Ray, based on the novel "Pather Panchali" by Bibhutibhushan Banerjee. Cinematography: Subrata Mitra Editing: Dulal Dutta Art Direction: Bansi Chandragupta Sound: Bhupen Ghosh Music: Pandit Ravi Shankar U.S. Distributor: Merchant-Ivory/Sony Pictures Classics Cast Harihar, the Father: Kanu Banerjee Sarbajaya, the Mother: Karuna Banerjee Apu: Subir Banerjee Durga, young girl: Uma Das Gupta Durga, child: Runki Banerjee Indir Thakrun, Old Aunt: Chunibala Devi Candy seller: Haren Banerjee Summary The time is early twentieth century, a remote village in Bengal.The film deals with a Brahmin family, a priest - Harihar, his wife Sarbajaya, daughter Durga, and his aged cousin Indir Thakrun - struggling to make both ends meet. Harihar is frequently away from home on work. The wife is raising her mischievous daughter Durga and caring for elderly cousin Indir, whose independent spirit sometimes irritates her... Apu is born. With the little boy's arrival, happiness, play and exploration uplift the children's daily life. Durga and Apu share an intimate bond. They follow a candy seller whose wares they can not afford, enjoy the theatre, discover a train and witness a marriage ceremony. They even face death of their aunt - Indir Thakrun. Durga is accused of a theft. She fall ill after a joyous dance in rains of the monsoon. On a stormy day, when Harihar is away on work, Durga dies. On Harihar's return, the family leaves their village in search of a new life in Benaras. The film closes with an image of Harihar, wife and son - Apu, slowly moving way in an ox cart. Comments Pather Panchali is Ray's debut film, and the first film of his 'The Apu trilogy'. The remaining two films of the trilogy, Aparajito and Apur Sansar, follow Apu as the son, the man and finally the father. Pather Panchali has a universal humanist appeal. Though the film deals with the grim struggle for survival by a poor family, it has no trace melodrama. What is projected in stead is the respect for human dignity. The most loveable character is that of Indir Thakrun, an old, cynical, loving and storytelling aunt of Apu and Durga. It was played by an 80-year-old Chunibala, a retired theatre performer who relished coming back into the limelight after 30 years of obscurity. The sequences of Apu and elder sister Durga, exploring their little world and sharing secrets are most remarkable aspect of the film. These include the scenes of - discovery of train by Durga and Apu in field of white Kash flowers, the candy seller sequence, and Indir Thakrun's death. In the inspired 'candy-seller' sequence, as Durga and Apu secretly relish tamarind paste, their mother is complaining about hardships to their father. Durga hears a faint bell. She knows it is the candy-seller. Both go out and look longingly at the the pots with sweets in them. Durga sends Apu to ask for money from their father. Mother intervenes, and Apu returns empty handed. But the site of the pot-bellied candy-seller caring two bobbing pots of sweets is too tempting to resist. Both start following him. A stray dog joins the procession as it is reflected in a shimmering pond. The film develops its characters and the atmosphere slowly and resolutely. The narrative builds up to a powerful climax as we begin to empathise with the characters. Some critics found the film to be too slow. Satyajit Ray wrote about the slow pace - "The cinematic material dictated a style to me, a very slow rhythm determined by nature, the landscape, the country. The script had to retain some of the rambling quality of the novel because that in itself contained a clue to the authenticity: life in a poor Bengali village does ramble." Towards the end of the film, after death of Durga, we see Apu brushing his teeth, combing his hair... going about performing tasks, which would have involved his sister or mother. Sarbajaya (mother) has a lost look... Harihar returns, unaware of Durga's death. In a jovial mood he calls out his children. Without any reaction, Sarbajaya fetches water and a towel for him. Harihar begins to show the gifts he has brought for them. When he shows a sari that he has bought for Durga, Sarbajaya breaks down. We hear the high notes of a musical instrument "Tarshahnai" symbolising her uncontrollable weeping. Realising Durga's loss, Harihar collapses on his wife. We see speechless Apu, for the first time taking the centre stage in the story. Till now the story was seen through the point of view of either Sarbajaya or Durga. It is only in these final moments that we see Apu as an independent individual. In the USA, Pather Panchali played at the 5th Avenue Playhouse for a record 36 weeks, breaking the previous record held by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. What others say... "The first film by the masterly Satyajit Ray - possibly the most unembarrassed and natural of directors - is a quiet reverie about the life of an impoverished Brahman family in a Bengali village. Beautiful, sometimes funny, and full of love, it brought a new vision of India to the screen." - Pauline Kael "A beautiful picture, completely fresh and personal. (Ray's camera) reaches forward into life, exploring and exposing, with reverence and wonder." - Lindsay Anderson "One of the most stunning first films in movie history. Ray is a welcome jolt of flesh, blood and spirit." - Jack Kroll, Newsweek " As deeply beautiful and plainly poetic as any movie ever made. Rare and exquisite." - Hazel-Dawn Dumpert, L.A. Weekly Awards President's Gold & Silver Medals, New Delhi, 1955 Best Human Document, Cannes 1956 Diploma Of Merit, Edinbugh, 1956 Vatican Award, Rome, 1956 Golden Carbao, Manila, 1956 Best Film and Direction, San Francisco, 1957 Selznik Golden Laurel, Berlin, 1957 Best Film, Vancouver, 1958 Critics' Award - Best Film, Stratford, (Canada), 1958 Best Foreign Film, New York, 1959 Kinema Jumpo Award: Best Foreign Film, Tokyo 1966 Bodil Award: Best Non-European Film of the Year, Denmark, 1966 Other Films of The Apu Trilogy Aparajito (The Unvanquished, 1956) Apur Sansar (The World of Apu, 1959)

Rashomon

Rashomon

1950/Japan /Japanese /88 min /Black and White

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Ryûnosuke Akutagawa (stories),

Akira Kurosawa , Shinobu Hashimoto

Stars:

Toshirō Mifune,
Masayuki Mori,
Machiko Kyō,
Takashi Shimura,
Minoru Chiaki

Music by

Fumio Hayasaka

Cinematography

Kazuo Miyagawa

Editing by

Akira Kurosawa

Plot

The film opens on a woodcutter and a priestsitting beneath Rashōmon gate to stay dry in a downpour. A commoner joins them and they tell him that they've witnessed a disturbing story, which they then begin recounting to him. The woodcutter claims he found the body of a murdered samurai three days earlier while looking for wood in the forest; upon discovering the body, he says, he fled in a panic to notify the authorities. The priest says that he saw the samurai and the woman traveling the same day the murder happened. Both men were then summoned to testify in court, where they met the captured bandit Tajōmaru, who claimed responsibility for the rape and murder.

The bandit's story

Tajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a dagger, but was eventually "seduced" by the bandit. The woman, filled with shame, then begged him to duel to the death with her husband, to save her from the guilt and shame of having two men know her dishonor. Tajōmaru honorably set the samurai free and dueled with him. In Tajōmaru's recollection they fought skillfully and fiercely, but in the end Tajōmaru was the victor and the woman ran away. At the end of the story to the court, he is asked about an expensive dagger owned by the samurai's wife: he says that, in the confusion, he forgot all about it, and that it was foolish of him to leave behind such a valuable object.

The wife's story

The samurai's wife tells a different story to the court. She says that Tajōmaru left after raping her. She begged her husband to forgive her, but he simply looked at her coldly. She then freed him and begged him to kill her so that she would be at peace. He continued to stare at her with a look of loathing. His expression disturbed her so much that she fainted with dagger in hand. She awoke to find her husband dead with the dagger in his chest. She attempted to kill herself, but failed in all her efforts.

The samurai's story

The court then hears the story of the deceased samurai, told through a medium (巫女; miko). The samurai claims that Tajōmaru, after raping his wife, asked her to travel with him. She accepted and asked Tajōmaru to kill her husband so that she would not feel the guilt of belonging to two men. Tajōmaru, shocked by this request, grabbed her, and gave the samurai a choice of letting the woman go or killing her. ("For these words alone," the dead samurai recounted, "I was ready to pardon his crime.") The woman fled, and Tajōmaru, after attempting to recapture her, gave up and set the samurai free. The samurai then killed himself with his own dagger; later, somebody removed the dagger from his chest.

The woodcutter's story

Back at Rashōmon gate (after the trial), the woodcutter explains to the commoner that the samurai's story was a lie. The woodcutter had actually witnessed the rape and murder, he says, but just did not want to get too involved at the trial. According to the woodcutter's new story, Tajōmaru begged the samurai's wife to marry him, but the woman instead freed her husband. The husband was initially unwilling to fight Tajōmaru, saying he would not risk his life for a spoiled woman, but the woman then criticized both him and Tajōmaru, saying they were not real men and that a real man would fight for a woman's love. She spurred the men to fight one another, but then hid her face in fear once they raise swords; the men, too, were visibly fearful as they begin fighting. They began a duel that was much more pitiful than Tajōmaru's account had made it sound, and Tajōmaru ultimately won through a stroke of luck. After some hesitation he killed the samurai, and the woman fled in horror. Tajōmaru could not catch her, but took the samurai's sword and left the scene limping.

Climax

At the temple, the woodcutter, priest, and commoner are interrupted from their discussion of the woodcutter's account by the sound of a crying baby. They find the baby abandoned in a basket, and the commoner takes a kimono and an amulet that have been left for the baby. The woodcutter reproaches the commoner for stealing from the abandoned baby, but the commoner chastises him. Having deduced that the woodcutter in fact stole the dagger from the scene of the murder, the commoner mocks him, "a bandit calling another a bandit". The commoner leaves Rashōmon, claiming that all men are motivated only by self-interest.

These deceptions and lies shake the priest's faith in humanity. He is brought back to his senses when the woodcutter reaches for the baby in the priest's arms. The priest is suspicious at first, but the woodcutter explains that he intends to take care of the baby along with his own children, of whom he already has six. This simple revelation recasts the woodcutter's story and the subsequent theft of the dagger in a new light. The priest gives the baby to the woodcutter, saying that the woodcutter has given him reason to continue having hope in humanity. The film closes on the woodcutter, walking home with the baby. The rain has stopped and the clouds have opened revealing the sun in contrast to the beginning where it was overcast.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon_%28film%29)

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film review

Gulabi Talkies

Directed by Girish Kasaravalli

Produced by Basantkumar Patil

Written by Girish Kasaravalli, Vaidehi (Story)

Starring Umashree, K.G. Krishna Murthy M.D. Pallavi

Music by Isaac Thomas Kottukapally

Cinematography S. Ramachandra Aithal

Editing by S. Manohar, M.N. Swamy

Running time 122 minutes

Language Kannada

The film is set in the late 1990s among the fishing communities around Kundapura, in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka. The impulsive midwife Gulabi (Umashree) is the protagonist, whose one passion is the cinema. She leads a lonely life in an island inhabited by fisher folk. Her husband Musa (K.G. Krishna Murthy), a small-time fish-selling agent, has deserted her and is living happily with his second wife Kunjipathu and their child Adda.

A family gifts her a television with a satellite dish antenna in gratitude after she attends to a difficult delivery (for which they even had to bodily remove her from a movie theatre). The arrival of the first color TV in her small island village heralds great changes in the sleepy hamlet. The women in the village begin gathering at her house once the men leave for fishing. But a few of them stay away, since Gulabi is one of the few Muslims in the village. Yet others prefer to watch from outside her shack, without entering it.

Among the regulars at her home is Netru (singer-actress M.D. Pallavi), a girl with an absentee husband and a domineering mother-in-law, whom Gulabi befriends and becomes a confidante to. But Netru disappears and Gulabi is blamed, leaving her all alone in the village.

The Kargil War of 1999 and the rise of communalism in Karnataka provide the backdrop to the film. The communal stereotyping of Muslims following the Kargil War finds an echo in the village. The tension between the small fishermen of the village and a Muslim businessman (who is actually never shown throughout the film) with a growing fleet of commercial trawlers acquires a communal colour.

The disappearance of Netru adds to the mounting tensions. The Muslims in the village flee and urge Gulabi to leave too, but she refuses and stays put in the village. Her house is vandalised and she is forcibly taken to a boat to leave the island. The young men from outside who spearhead the attack assure the villagers that Gulabi's television would remain in her house.

The film ends with a scene in which two illiterate elderly women, who had hitherto refused to enter Gulabi's house, going in there to watch TV (which they do not know how to switch on - they are probably unaware even that it has to be switched on).

Awards and recognition

Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema, 2008:

Best Film in Indian Competition

Best Actress in Indian Competition - Umashree

Karnataka State Annual Film Awards, 2009

Best Film - Kannada State award

Best Screenplay - Girish Kasaravalli

Best Actress - Umashree

National Film Awards, 2009

Best Actress - Umashree

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulabi_Talkies )

MARUPATHAI

SCREENING ON 26 AUGUST 2011,FRIDAY, 6 PM AT Y.M.C.A HALL,

NEAR SHENOY'S JUNCTION, CHITTOOR ROAD, ERNAKULAM

MARUPAATHAI

TAMIL/ENGLISH / 75 MIN.

SCRIPT / DIRECTION : K.P.SREEKRISHNAN

PRODUCER : DILIP NARAYANAN

CAMERA : PRAKASHAN

EDIT : SAJITH UNNIKRISHNAN

MUSIC : RAJESH DASS

three young men, hailing from different social backgrounds with

different vistas and predilections on a single mission is thesituation pursued by 'the way to be'through a non-linear treatment, the pursuit brings forth how anindigenous tribe that preserves and practices a primitivemethod of gold mining, can trigger a violent chain reaction ofevents that are both unconnected and connected.a christian missionary rebelling against the church establishment,a spry and over ambitious journalist girl, a vigilante intellectualweb community, a philanthropist library in a provincial city,an editor of a little magazine, an opinionated geologist are allenmeshed in this entanglement.the nascent and thus fragile nature of Indian democracy, which cannoteven absorb and factor in a primitive livelihood into itspolitical and economic structure results in the origin and spreadof political extremism and violence.

So Heddan So Hoddan

screening on 20th August 2011, 6 pm, at nanappa art gallery, cochin-11, followed by "meet the directors".

Like Here Like There

A Film by Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayasankar
52 mins, Sindhi, Kachchhi and Hindustani with English subtitles, 2011,
A Public Service Broadcasting Trust Production

Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, a medieval Sufi poet, is an iconic figure in the cultural history of Sindh. Bhitai’s /Shah Ji Risalo/ is a remarkable collection of poems which are sung by many communities in Kachchh and across the border in Sindh (now in Pakistan). Many of the poems draw on the eternal love stories of /Umar-Marui/ and /Sasui-Punhu/, among others. These songs speak of the pain of parting, of the inevitability of loss and of deep grief that takes one to unknown and mysterious terrains.

Umar Haji Suleiman of Abdasa, in Kachchh, Gujarat, is a self taught Sufi scholar; once a cattle herder, now a farmer, he lives his life through the poetry of Bhitai. Umar’s cousin, Mustafa Jatt sings the Bheths of Bhitai. He is accompanied on the Surando, by his cousin Usman Jatt. Usman is a truck driver, who owns and plays one of the last surviving Surandos in the region. The Surando is a peacock shaped, five-stringed instrument from Sindh. The film explores the life worlds of the three cousins, their families and the Fakirani Jat community to which they belong.

Before the Partition the Maldhari (pastoralist) Jatts moved freely across the Rann, between Sindh (now in Pakistan) and Kutch. As pastoral ways of living have given way to settlement, borders and industrialisation, the older generation struggles to keep alive the rich syncretic legacy of Shah Bhitai, that celebrates diversity and non-difference, suffering and transcendence, transience and survival. These marginal visions of negotiating difference in creative ways resist cultural politics based on tight notions of nation-state and national culture; they open up the windows of our national imaginary.

About the Directors

Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar are Professors at the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Monteiro has a Masters degree in Economics and a Ph.D. in Sociology. Jayasankar has an M.A. in German language and a Ph.D. in Humanities and Social Sciences. Both of them are involved in media production, teaching and research. A presiding thematic of much of their work has been a problematising of notions of self and the other, of normality and deviance, of the local and the global, through the exploration of diverse narratives and rituals. These range from the stories and paintings of indigenous peoples to the poetry of prison inmates. Jointly they have won twenty two national and international awards for their films. These include the Prix Futura Berlin 1995 Asia Prize for Identity- The Construction of Selfhood, Best Innovation, Astra Film Festival 1998, Sibiu, Romania for YCP 1997, Best documentary award at the IV Three Continents International Festival of Documentaries 2005, Venezuela, for SheWrite ,Certificate of Merit, Mumbai International Film Festival 2008, Indian Documentary Producers Associuation (IDPA) Gold for Best Sound Design, Gold for Best Script and Silver for Editing for the film Our Family. Their most recent award is the commendation for Do Din Ka Mela (A Two Day Fair) in the Intangible Culture (Music-Dance-Performance) category at the 12th RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film . Vibgyor Film Festival, Kerala and Bangalore Film Society have organised retrospectives of their work in 2006 and 2010, respectively. So Heddan So Hoddan is the second in the series films set in Kachchh that they have made; Do Din Ka Mela (A Two Day Fair) was the first film http://atwodayfair.wordpress.com/

They have several papers in the area of media and cultural studies and have contributed to scholarly journals such as Cultural Studies. They are both recipients of the Howard Thomas Memorial Fellowship in Media Studies, and have been attached to Goldsmith’s College, London and the University of Western Sydney. Monteiro was a Fulbright visiting lecturer in 2006-07 at the University of California, Berkeley. They also serve as visiting faculty to several leading media and design institutions in India and abroad. They are both actively involved in ‘Vikalp‘ , which is collective of documentary filmmakers campaigning for freedom of expression. They are also associated with various media and voluntary organisations.