Master Class: Adoor speaks

 

 

How do you approach film as a medium?

It’s a binomial approach. To begin with, it is my profession as my way of expressions. It’s also my being; my life. It’s nearly 46 years now. For many this is a fashionable exercise.

It’s now 46 years that you decided that this should be your life. It’s a long process for you. So, what are your common patterns of preparations for a film?

That’s a complex question. The fact is that I always think about cinema. It’s a long process. Script writing is the most time consuming work. First you have to have an idea that very strongly affects your thought process. But you are not going to write it immediately. Many grand ideas may turn to be less appealing after a deep sleep. So I pick the most influencing one.

In your entire films one finds the strong presence of Kerala culture and history. For a non-Keralite a comprehensive appreciation of those films may not be possible. What do you think about this…?

My films are about an era in which I lived and which still lives. I never narrate a story that’s beyond the period of 1940’s. When I talk, it’s not only that of my characters yesterday, but also mine. The themes I depicted in my films are very local, that’s how it becomes universal.

You use even the minute sounds of nature as an inseparable part of your films. How do you achieve this?

Sound is an aspect that we often ignore. Our film makers and people think that sound is something that should be a cacophony of music instruments from the first frame to the last. That’s a crude practice. Even some of the acclaimed film makers are doing this. They know nothing about it. We are living through many types of sounds. The use of sound is psychological. We have to choose the right sound. One should make use of a particular sound that gives a new dimension to the scene, not underlines it. The depiction of women characters in your movies always has a right historical perspective. How did you evolve this characterisation?

The deepest relationship I had in this world was with my mother. That’s natural also. But I had something more. My parents started to live separately when I was too young. I went though a very difficult childhood. This is one of the reasons I became very sensitive to issues, especially that of women. One may talk aloud progressively, but can’t picturise characters by separating them from realities. If we do that it would become unreal and false. Also, we speak about human conditions, women’s condition is relevant than man’s. That’s the condition of the society. She is the institution of our society.

Power, servility and its complexities are percolating undercurrents of your films. Is it a conscious continuity?

Not a conscious continuity. Our country was in shackles for many centuries. Though we say that here it is democracy, it is not true for millions of people around us.

Your film Mukhamukham evoked a huge debate allegedly for its anti-communist stand. How do you see it?

It’s not an anti-communist film. When it was screened in Locarno Film festival’s competition segment, critics in there said that "it’s an outstanding work, but it’s a communist film". They didn’t like communism. Here the criticisms were totally opposite! Other film makers who influenced you…. It’s not influence. Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik were great inspirations.