8 TEENTIME

2012 FEBRUARY 15 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 35 GULF MADHYAMAM l No1 IN THE GULF

CHIPS@

That Padmarajan touch

he story of an orphaned earthquake-survivor, the struggles of a government clerk who battles Alzheimers disease or the quaint charm of romance in old age film-maker Blessy is a man who straddles genres and has made thematic variety his calling card. If his debut Kaazhcha can be classed as a drama film, Bhramaram assumes the shades of a psychological thriller while Pranayam is a celebration of good old romance where the love triangle features two elderly men and an ageing woman. Blessy, who considers himself fortunate to have been trained under Padmarajan right from the masters first movie (Peruvazhiyambalam),

FIRST TAKE>
Jyothi Varma

says that Padmarajan gave Malayalam cinema the aesthetics of love and romanticism. The Padmarajan school trains you to approach films sincerely. In his vision, cinema was not a medium to showcase technology, the role of which was complementary. The base of a movie had to be its story and scriptthe film makers craft lies in the manner of narration, he says. On his debut filmwhich fetched for him the Kerala State Award in 2004Blessy says that it was the first time he was trying his hand at scripting. As I was a newcomer, it was a struggle to get an established script-writer. A couple of seasoned writers who were shown the story also doubted how the plot could be taken forward. The challenge prompted me to write the script myself. In fact, it was Mammookka

(Mammootty) who encouraged me to write out whatever came to my mindand that was how Kaazhcha came about, says Blessy. On venturing into cinema, Blessy says right from his school days he aspired to be a film-maker. Nothing else seemed to make sense to me. Blessy would rather wait for the apt story rather than rush into a first film. In fact, his wait took almost 18 years of working as assistant to the likes of Padmarajan and Lohithadas. He was clear in his mind that he wanted to be like the masters he admired who had made a mark with their debutsPadmarajan with Peruvazhiyambalam, Bharathan with Prayanam and K G George with Swapnadanam. On his approach to film-making: I make movies that I love to watch or havent seen. My movies should

not be a tailpiece of other movies. I dont want people to forget my movies as soon as they are out of the theatre. I want them to discuss it long after they have returned home, he says. Blessy rates Mohanlal as one of the finest actors ever of Indian cinema. I am happy that all the three movies I made with Mohanlal feature in the top 10 of his best films to date. On rejigging the cinematic clich of the love triangle in Pranayam, Blessy points out that many world classics have dealt with love trianglestwo men and a woman; but invariably one man would be noble and the other cast as villain. I tried to break that rule and the other maxim that three is a crowd when it comes to sharing even Platonic love, Blessy explains. Blessy does not agree with classifying movies into mainstream, middle or art. Films are about the way a director deals with a subject. I want my cinema to touch people, an experience not for the brain but for the heart. n