N.N. Baiju, a temporary postman, still doesn't know how he evolved into a filmmaker.
His maiden short film, 'The Outsider', on Alappuzha lighthouse, got an entry at the New York short film festival in 2002. The latest is a 90 minute docu-fiction on historic Madayipara in Kannur, which will be out in January.
Madayipara is a flattopped hillock. “A young girl who returns to Madayi is shocked to see her childhood habitat in ruins. She finds that indiscriminate mining has sapped the micro-biodiversity of Madayipara. The film takes off with her desperate attempts to restore her beloved place," explains Baiju.
He travels from Alappuzha to Kannur with the crew every Saturday and shoots on Sundays. That way, he has kept his job. Writer N. Prabhakaran and theater activist Ibrahim Vengara are on the cast in Madayipara.
Born in nondescript Karumadi village near Ambalapuzha, Baiju, 38, a graduate, used to be fascinated by pictures. “Films interested me even at school. I would rummage sources to find more clues to films, their background and how they were made. My mainstay was the village library. That was a long shot at the reel world," said Baiju.
Baiju's life changed after he joined a certificate course on cinema in Thiruvananthapuram in 2000. He has directed a dozen short films, including 'Chavukadal' on a polluted river in Ambalappuzha with the support of Ilappacha, a cultural organisation.
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