The tumultuous bus journey a young couple takes in 1972 continues to captivate audiences today. ‘Swayamvaram’ remains relevant even 50 years after it first hit the screens and writer Adoor Gopalakrishnan continues to deftly highlight the complexity of human relationships on screen.
In Delhi to participate in a rare commemorative retrospective of select films organized to celebrate 50 years of his creative journey, the much-acclaimed filmmaker spoke to The Hindu on a range of issues and, of course, his art. . Edited excerpts:
How has been your experience of being associated with Delhi?
We can’t escape Delhi, we can’t escape Delhi! Getting involved with the government is neither easy nor interesting. Cinema is equated with Bollywood: bureaucrats are neither aware nor interested in anything other than what is happening in Mumbai. Automatically, we are alienated as outsiders.
My argument was that in this country I am known as a regional filmmaker. To become an Indian filmmaker, I have to go abroad.
Have things changed now as OTT platforms are screening many films with subtitles in South Indian languages so that they can reach out to pan-India audiences?
I don’t watch OTT as I don’t believe in releasing my films for cellphone and laptop viewing. A film is made for the experience of watching it in a theatre. How can you shrink it and make it appear on a smaller medium? Cinema is a social experience and is meant to be viewed by society in a dark theatre. Even TV was a compromise but we used to show movies on Doordarshan after a significant amount of time had passed since the theaters were running. It was not intended to be a film, just a secondary source of income. Today people are making films just to watch TV which will ruin cinema.
After the pandemic it is being presented as a necessity…
For two years, COVID kept us inside and this has given rise to the demand for in-house entertainment. But cinema should not depend on the small screen for survival. Today Hollywood is also worried about this situation.
When I travel north on trains, I find hawkers selling chickpeas and groundnuts on a moving train. They call it ‘timepass’. I realized that they are selling food items as a way to pass the time during the long journey. You cannot think of cinema as timepass.
What is your take on ideological censorship and propaganda films?
We are living in the days of super censors. First, movies are censored by a government official and then by an invisible ecosystem on social media. This is ridiculous. Who are these people who sit to pass judgment on a film? To me, they are antisocial. When you don’t trust the artist, it’s not a very good situation. Propaganda as a tool is not new to cinema. The Soviet Union did this in a very positive way after the Bolshevik Revolution. It was led by people like Sergei Eisenstein, who shaped the grammar of cinema and inspired filmmakers around the world.
In legislation (1993) It is clear that your films often deal with the power equation at various levels…
I have always been interested in examining the position of a citizen as the pivot of the whole and its engagement with the layers of the family, society and state. I kept working on these relationships. That is why my films are faithful documents of an era and a life. Nothing is fake.
How do you deal with change in technology?
Technology is very easy now. There is nothing new in this that needs to be adjusted. It has become user friendly. However, the basic requirement remains the same. If you’re making a worthwhile film, you have to think ahead. Cinema, whatever technique you use, is essentially a product of thought. When people used to take years to finish a film, I used to complete it in 30 days.
But you take long breaks in between films.
It takes time for me to decide on a subject. It’s not because I didn’t get the money. I could have easily made many films. I make films only when I really feel the urge to do it. And in between, I live a simple life with nothing filmy about it.
Why do you provide information based on what your actors need to know?
I do not want any further interpretation of what I have written. I don’t allow my actors to make any changes to the dialogues. It is quite possible that I may change my mind about a particular scene during the course of shooting. My script is very organic. It can change, it can grow. My screenplay is not just a scene-wise narration of events. This includes camera movement and the creation of scenery. If not written then it is in my mind.
Was it always like this when you worked with some of the top stars?
Yes, right from my first film where I worked with Thikurissi (Sukumaran Nair), who was a big name in the Malayalam film industry. The people of my village asked will he listen to you? I said more than anyone else.
Young filmmakers these days often talk about cinema being a collaborative effort…
When you’re not a master of your craft, it becomes a collaborative effort. Nothing wrong with it if it works for them.
The retrospective is on until 21 December at the India International Centre, New Delhi