‘Quality missing in Malayalam movies’

“There is something about the impressionable years I spent here seeing the Thrissur Pooram, the crackers, greenery, the coconut groves and all, that is more strongly etched in my memory than Mumbai. It is about wanting to go back to the place of your birth but since my work is in Mumbai, that feeling cannot be indulged.” Anant is an avid watcher of Malayalam films and offers some frank insights about the current crop of films.

Anant opines, “I have been watching Malayalam films right from Chemmeen and Neelakkuyil up to the recent movies. The whole scenario has changed; Malayalam films used to have a different kind of escapism when MT, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Padmarajan, K.G. George and Aravindan came on the scene and took it to a different high. But today it is somehow falling between two schools — neither achieving that greatness it once had nor the out and out commercial touch that Mammootty or Mohanlal brought. The entire culture of the youth and the audience has been changing and Kerala has been affected by that thinking, costumes, morals, etc. You cannot stick to one kind of filmmaking for ever but you don’t have great cinema too. This change is not restricted to only Malayalam films but across all Industries. The quality of filmmaking is lacking in all languages and that breakthrough which the veterans made is yet to come.”

Anant himself has been making realistic films that have received critical acclaim at International film festivals. The subjects that Anant chooses for his films are carved from real life. He has been directing films of unsung heroes of India like Gour Hari Dastaan, the biopic on a little known freedom fighter. He has just finished a film Rough Book that looks at the education system in India and has already launched his next film about which he says, “It is about India’s first lady doctor Dr Ratna Bhai and is a period film set in the British era. Not many know who India’s first lady doctor is and it is surprising that milestones that certain people have achieved, whether known or unknown, are not recognised by the world. I think these stories need to be told because they are awe inspiring and great cinematic material. That is why I prefer making such films though it is a tough task because one has to stay absolutely faithful to the subject and yet not make it look like a docu-drama .What is the amount of cinematic licence taken to dramatise a real story? That is the challenge of writing a screenplay out of real events but I enjoy it because it pushes my limits as a filmmaker, a thinker and a visualiser and why it is so rewarding.”

Though he dons several hats and juggles between each effortlessly, Anant candidly states, “Acting is something I enjoy because there are no additional responsibilities; you go there, do your work and come back. But as a director, the journey is absolutely uplifting because you create every little thing that eventually comes on screen. Acting is like stopping at an eatery and having a good meal where you do not need to bother about making the meal but direction is where you cook the meal right up to serving it.”

Asked about acting in a Malayalam film, he quips, “I am waiting for Jeethu Joseph or someone to call me for a Malayalam film!”