Lensman dons director's cap

Role changes in Malayalam cinema has become the in thing, and over the course of time, the industry got used to it. Those announcements like an actor switching to direction and vice-versa, a singer starting a directorial stint or a film personality turning to entrepreneurship are heard often. As curtains go up for the ninth International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram this Friday, another film veteran from behind the scenes is launching under a new tag — ace cinematographer K.G. Jayan. His directorial debut, Chennikkuthu (The Migraine) vies in the competition category of short fiction.

In an illustrious career spread over three decades, Jayan’s camera reaped gold thrice — netting one national acclaim under non-fiction film category (18th Elephant) and two state awards (Dany, Sufi Paranja Katha) for best camera.

Moreover, he is the lucky charm for most state award-winning films. Check a long winding list of such movies and the name K. G. Jayan figures in a lot of them. The latest state award-winning movie Amoeba stands testimony.

The directorial foray of the head of cinematography of L V Prasad Film and TV Academy in Thiruvananthapuram has been too fortuitous and he unfolds the interesting tale: “For the first batch of students in our institute, we decided     to come up with a production of our own. So I volunteered to handle the direction part and two of my students — Abhijith and Kalimuthu became the associate cameraman and associate director respectively,” he explains.

The movie is based on an adopted plot of a story with the same name by author M.P. Narayana Pillai. A humorous take narrates how the spirit of the protagonist, Krishnan Nair, returns to himself following his ‘death’ and the interesting happenings taking place in his family and life thereafter. A mix of intrigue and confusion comes up whenever Krishnan Nair squirms under the grip of acute migraine. The soul transfers on to his wife’s body! Fed up with the mysterious twists and turns, both decide to consult a doctor and he identifies the root cause.

Chennikuthu is of 21 minutes’ duration. The three main characters in Chennikkuthu are handled by actor Alancier and artistes Athmaja and C.K. Babu. The film has a screening schedule at 3 pm on the opening day.

If we are quizzical whether Jayan is going to don the director’s cap for movies, he has this to say — “I am thinking of it.”