In his decade long career, T K Rajeev Kumar has carved a niche for himself as one of the best directors in Malayalam cinema. He began his career as an assistant director in My Dear Kuttichathan, India's first 3-D film. His first directorial venture, Chanakyan, starred Kamal Haasan and was different in every sense of the term. So were his other films like Pavitram, Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu and Mahanagaram. Recently his latest film, Jalamarmaram won the national Award for the best film on environmental issues, besides fetching the best child artist award for Master Ashwin. He also found himself in the news with his first Hindi venture, Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya, when animal activists cried foul alleging cruelty to a baby elephant featured in the film. The director counters the allegations and dwells on his experiences in the film industry.
Excerpts:
What’s the inspiration behind your latest venture Jalamarmaram ?
Jalamarmaram is a result of the wealth of experience I gathered in my 10 years of filmmaking. The idea for a film about industrial pollution had been in my mind since the past ten years or so when the Mavoor Rayon issue was in the news. But for some reason I couldn’t get down to making the film, which made me feel guilty. This sense of guilt combined with a self-analysis of sorts led to my making Jalamarmaram.
My childhood memories inspired me to show the environmental issue in a child’s perspective, interspersing with it the myth of the mermaid.
Some of your films after Chanakyan, namely Kshanakaththu and Ottayaalpattaalam, failed to impress the viewers, who perhaps expected much more from you. What would you say about that?
I do agree that Kshanakaththu and Ottayaalpattaalam and of course, to some extent Mahanagaram, did not come out well. While doing Chanakyan, I had a very clear idea as to what kind of a film I wanted to make and the film was made as per my wishes. Soon after Chanakyan, I got an offer to do a Tamil period film, a Kamal Haasan production with which I was involved for quite some time. Meanwhile, I rejected many Malayalam offers but then Kamal’s project was suddenly dropped. After this I got an offer from Navodaya, the producers of Chanakyan and I worked out a subject. But the project had to be aborted at the last moment as the late director P Padmarajan was going to make a film on a similar subject. Thus, two of my projects were aborted midway. At the same time I was not willing to make another film just like Chanakyan, as many producers were demanding. And it was at this stage of indecisiveness that I made these particular films, which naturally didn’t come out well.
What made you venture into Hindi?
The main reason for my directing a Hindi film is R Mohan. After Chanakyan I had submitted a script to NFDC, for which even a loan was sanctioned, but I was asked to make the film in Hindi as it was a universal subject, which would get a bigger budget when made in Hindi. But I had backed out thinking Hindi would be difficult for me to handle. When recently R Mohan offered me a film, he said that he could provide me more budget if I did a Hindi version. And that is how I decided to try my hand at Hindi films. I got the script ready in Malayalam and got the dialogues written in Hindi and finally when I made the film I realized that language was no barrier at all for a director.
What is the theme of Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya ?
In a nutshell, it is like a fairy tale. The hero grows up hearing fairy tales, one of which turns true in his real life.
What do you feel about the controversy that this particular film has generated?
The allegations are totally uncalled for and are aimed at publicity alone. Moreover, it’s foolish to raise a controversy on the basis of a 30-second promo on television. No one has seen the film and even the Censor Board has given us a U certificate. The people who come up with such baseless allegations don’t even care to consider the modern technologies that we have used in picturising the scenes involving the baby elephant. And moreover, we are also human beings and we too feel love for animals and other fellow beings. We had a doctor on the set during the whole of the shooting with the baby elephant.
What are your views about the recent controversy regarding giving clippings of films to TV channels?
I would like to look at the issue from a different angle. It is high time filmmakers, setting aside questions regarding the relevance of this issue, start thinking of the real problems plaguing the Malayalam film industry. I would suggest that the whole of the film industry stop all production for one or two months and all film activists sit together and think on the real issue rather than on trivial matters. And I feel that finally we would reach a conclusion that we must make different films with different, new stories.
So, there’s a dearth of good stories as far as films are concerned?
No, there are different, new and good stories available but nobody wants them.
Who? The audience?
Certainly, not the audience. Because they have been accepting variety stuff whenever they are given a chance. Didn’t they accept Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu? So, only if they are given a chance to see such films can they appreciate them. There is no need to blame the TV too. I honestly believe that if the audience in Kerala is given a chance, they will accept good films. So the directors, producers, distributors and exhibitors should try to satisfy the audience by giving them good films.
Don’t you think that technical aspects of films are overstressed these days?
This is an area where there has been a lot of misunderstanding. Technicalities are meant for increasing the audience’s sensibility and I am sorry to say that we are not using them in the right manner. For example, DTS is used to create lot of noises and big bangs. It is used only in action films and horror films, whereas it should also be used for pleasant viewing. It is to be kept in mind that it has nothing to do with loudness. If we use the new technologies in a proper way, we can improve the quality of our films to a very large extent.
What do you feel regarding the future of Malayalam films?
I feel that new filmmakers representing the new generation should come. And I believe that such filmmakers would surely come. And another thing I am sure of is that whatever happens, cinema is not going to lose its magic and it is here to stay.
