8 TEENTIME

2012 MAY 16 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 48 GULF MADHYAMAM l No1 IN THE GULF

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The doctors diagnoses on the celluloid

The doctors diagnoses on the

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writer-director with Saira (2007) which was screened at 22 International Film Festivals. It was also the opening film at the 60th Cannes Film Festival, and the icing was that the screening coincided with the celebration of the 60th year of Indian Independence. Global terrorism has been the leitmotif of at least three of Dr Bijus films to date. However, each film tries to approach the issue of terrorism from a different perspective. While the debut film looked at how the interplay of the levers of power of the State, activist groups and some organisations influence people, the next one Raman was based on Americas assault on Iraq and took a strident anti-US standpoint while Veettilekkulla Vazhi explored relationships between people who are trapped in a web of terrorism. If Dr Bijus socio-political movie Raman triggered fierce debate, it was VeetilekkullaVazhi that bagged the most critical acclaim. The films list of honours includes the NETPAC Award for best film at the International Film Festival of Kerala 2010, the 58th National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam 2011 and the awards for best film, best director and best music director at Imagine India film festival Madrid, Spain 2011. Dr Biju says he was fond of writing short stories and articles even during his student days. However, his passion for cinema now subsumes his other interests. He says on a lighter note that since his films are being screened at a lot of international film festivals, he is seldom left with time to read or write. On his style of working for a movie: For me, film making is very much a rich cultural activity. Once a thread develops in my mind, I bounce the idea off my associate and cameraman. In case they feel that a similar theme was dealt with in an earlier movie, I drop the plan then and there. If the storyline is novel, I get into scripting and till I finish my scripting I dont discuss it with anyone. In fact it is the longest and most time-consuming process in my films, he says. Once through with the script, he has a preliminary round of discussion with the cinematographer, associate director, art director, music director, costumer and make up man. This is when the cast is finalised and a draft project report prepared. Once a producer okays my project, we chalk out a shooting schedule for the film. Since we all interact such a lot at various stages of evolution of the plot, the technicians are well versed with the script by the time we begin the shoots, he says. The exhaustive planning and coordination makes the shootDr. Biju ing a smooth affair and executable within deadlines. Dr Bijus next is a departure from his usual canvas of terror. AakasathinteNiram, featuring Nedumudi Venu, Prithviraj, Indrajith and Amla Paul, seeks to delve into the link between life and Nature. The film shot extensively on the Andamans is slated for a July release. Another project, ThanalTharratha Marangal is a work-inprogress which has been conceived as a political story. The scripting is over and the film is slotted for release by the end of the year, says the filmmaker. Dr Biju feels that the iron-clad framework evolved by the masters in parallel is hard to breach. When youngsters try out a new style, it is pretty tough to win over the confidence of even the people within the industry, he says. His message though is that if one carries conviction, success will follow. n

n the early 1990s, a doctor who arrives in Thiruvananthapuram to appear for the medical PG examination randomly drops in at the venue of the International Film Festival of Kerala to while away some spare timeand the experience changes his priorities in life forever. This episode is a testimony to how Keralas film festival culture not only shaped the sensibilities of generations of cine-goers but also inspired some of the more ardent viewers in the cinema halls to take up filmmaking as a career. This weeks appointment for First Take is with Dr Biju (Bijukumar Damodaran is his complete name), who has carved out a global reputation as a bold young film-maker in the parallel cinema space. It was my exposure to a few Turkish films at the IFFK that changed my perception of films, film making and the language that films speak, says FIRST TAKE> Dr Biju who is a homoeoJyothi Varma path practitioner, currently the Superintendent of the Government Medical College in Pala. The self-taught film-maker debuted as

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