The brave storyteller

At the lobby of a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, Rayhana was chatting with the girl holding her hands, laughing and hugging, inviting her to France, as if she had known her for ages. Once she settles down for a quick chat, she holds your hand and magically, you feel at home. That warm easiness with which she bonds with women reflects throughout her movie At My Age, I Still Hide to Smoke, which was screened to packed houses during all the three screenings at the IFFK. 

“We are all women. Speaking woman-to-woman is easy,” she says in bits of English. Wherever she screened the film, she has been greeted — with hugs and tears at many places and with death threats and abuses in many other places. But no threat or abuse will stand in her way of telling stories. 

In Algeria, her homeland, and later, in France, where she took asylum as a 35-year-old, she has faced threats from Islamists. Once, in Paris, she was doused in petrol by extremists and it was a narrow escape from an immolation bid. That was when her play was staged. “It was the same At My Age, I Still Hide to Smoke. I staged it for seven years. The play was in French; the actors — the nine women — kept on changing after they faced attacks and threats,” she recalls. 

Rayhana’s growth has been full of fights. She started off as a waitress, then became a theatre actor and after that, an author, a playwright and finally, a screenwriter and a filmmaker. It wasn’t an easy journey, but she’d make it sound cool. “After I married Ben, I had time to write and make a play and a film, because he fed me well,” she laughs. Her colleagues — Azzedin Medjoubi from theatre and Ali Tenkhi from films, were killed, the former in front of her. Her brother was assassinated in France by Islamists, apparently for homosexuality.

The film, her directorial debut at the age of 55, made in Arabic, set in a hammam (Turkish bath), has a group of women celebrating freedom — to speak, to walk naked, to express their dreams and political, personal and feminist views — protecting a pregnant teen from religious fundamentalists and misogynistic men. As the women take bath, get body massages and smoke together, there are confrontations, ‘blasphemous’ criticisms against religion, fun moments, talks about dreams, oppression, sex, rape, politics and references to the past of each one of them. 

“The film is about the world of women everywhere. Everywhere I screened the film, women told me this is their story, their life. That’s what I too wanted to tell the world. Men just announce ‘talaq, talaq, talaq’; it’s easy. After I made movies, I am being called a bitch, whore...,” Rayhana adds. 

The movie was banned in Algeria and all Arabic Muslim countries. The exteriors were shot in Algeria, but the hammam was set in Greece. “No Algerian actress was cast, because all of them rejected. All the actors were from Greece. The lead, played by Hiam Abbas, is a Palestinian. Apart from her, Biyouna (star in Tunisia and Algeria) and Nadia Kaci, all the other women are debutants. The actors, who appear as the extremists in the climax, are all Greek actors.” 

Only in Tunisia was her movie welcomed. “The situation is different there after the Jasmine Revolution. The rise of feminists has brought about gender equality in Tunisia and my film was praised a lot when screened there,” she says. 

In Kerala, people loved At My Age, I Still Hide to Smoke, but Reyhana says one-third of the film was ‘lost’ in translation. “The English subtitles were badly done; there’s a lot more you haven’t heard. I would like to screen it with proper subtitles in English and if possible, in other Indian languages,” she says. 

Rayhana says she has no qualms even if she doesn’t get an award at IFFK. “I have the audience award; the responses were so great. I make movies for the audience and this is the biggest award.” However, the film later went on to win the audience poll award at the IFFK that concluded on Friday.

 Published in Deccan Chronicle on December 16, 2017 

A sweet reward for Prem Shankar

Prem Shankar sounds tense. His debut movie, Randu Per, is one of the two Malayalam movies selected for the competition section of the 22nd IFFK. “This should have been my fifth or sixth movie,” says the advertisement professional-turned-film maker, who gave up his lucrative job in Bengaluru to pursue his passion full time. Randu Per (Two Persons), starring Basil Paulose and Santhy Balachandran (Tharangam-fame), speaks about an urban-based romantic tale, of how the couple handles a breakup after a five-year-old relationship. Also Read - Leaked Photo of Prabhas from New Film Goes Viral; Makers Warn “Most of the scenes are inside a car, but it is not a road movie. It’s a love story, but more of a conversational one,” he says. The whole story happens over the night of November 8, 2016, the day demonetization was declared. But that too forms just another social premise. The man, a wannabe film maker, deeply disturbed by the breakup, documents the whole night using hidden cameras. As the lovers talk about it in a car, the man driving and conversing with the girl, it becomes an eventful journey.
The movie, which has a duration of 1 hour and 50 minutes, has Suraj Venjarammood, Alencier Ley Lopez and Sunil Sukhada too on board. The whole shoot happened at Bengaluru, but the movie has no mention about it. “It could be any place, anywhere in India. It’s not the place, nor the setting that is important. The focus is on the story, the content,” says Prem. 

According to him, it’s an era where movie making is no big deal. “We have a huge technological democracy with all sorts of gadgets and facilities in place. Anyone can make a movie. Finding the backup and support are the most difficult parts,” he says. 

For Prem, the struggle has been real. With film dreams, he knocked on every door to find the apt cast and the producer. Years went on and finally, his collegemate Arunkumar K.S. came forward to fund his dreams. “He didn’t even ask for the script or story. And I am glad that mine had the opportunity to compete in this prestigious festival with so many excellent world movies.” 

An actor, Basil had readily agreed to act and Prem found Santhy whose performance in Harold Pinter's play The Lover impressed him. “Watch the movie and you too will know that my choice of actors was right,” he adds. 

The world premiere of Randu Per is scheduled at 11.30 am on Tuesday at Tagore Theatre.

 Published in Deccan Chronicle on December 12, 2017

Rohingyans an international issue: Edmund Yeo

Edmund Yeo, The Malaysian director, whose film Aqerat is awaiting its third screening on Tuesday, is glad to see the enthusiasm in the air. “During the opening screening of The Insult, I too was cheering with the crowd. It is great to see such a huge crowd of film-lovers,” he says. 

Aqerat, which means ‘we are the dead’, is his second film. It speaks about Rohingyan crisis. Yeo’s films have been about resistance and struggles. At this year’s Tokyo Festival where Aqerat was screened, Yeo became the first Malaysian film maker to have won the best director award at the prestigious venue. “That was an emotional moment. I broke down on the stage,” the 33-year-old director recalls with a laugh. 

Rohingyan crisis, Yeo says, is not a regional issue happening in Malaysia. “It is an international issue. They are innocent people – teenagers, kids and women; there is no reason for them to be killed due to hatred in the countries where they try to find lives.” Aqerat had just 20 people on board as actors and technicians, some of them who doubled up as extras. The whole film was shot over 12 days. The lead character, Hui Ling, excellently portrayed by Daphne Low is especially dear to Yeo. 

“Hui Ling is a bit of me and a bit of her. Biographical elements of my displacement woes as a Chinese person in Australia and Tokyo, where I had gone for studies, are there,” Yeo adds. “There is no platform for independent film makers,” he said. 

“Last year, the independent film makers organised Malaysia’s first film festival. The reception wasn’t that great, but we hope participation will increase in the future and that we can host a huge international film festival like the IFFK.”

 Published in Deccan Chronicle on December 11, 2017

Left out of the picture

The opening event of the 22nd International Film Festival of Kerala on Friday, though devoid of ceremonial programmes, was nonetheless memorable with a candlelight tribute to Ockhi victims followed by a power-packed speech by Prakash Raj. The stage was graced by the likes of legendary actor Madhabi Mukherjee, director Aparna Sen, Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty and state award-winning actress Rajisha Vijayan. The absence of one person was very conspicuous — of Surabhi Lakshmi, who, through her performance in Minnaminungu, brought home the National Award for Best Actress this time, after 14 long years. 

Surabhi was nowhere in Thiruvananthapuram; she was in Narikkuni, her hometown, just back from the shoot of Selin’s Tovino Thomas-starrer Theevandi. Ask her why she wasn’t seen at the festival and the actress says, “I didn’t get a delegate pass; I tried applying, but couldn’t get one. I had asked Kamal sir (Chalachitra Academy chairman) and he told me that he would ask someone to call me, but nobody did.” 

However, the delegate pass is the least of her concerns and she admits that she didn’t follow up. That she wasn’t invited is a lesser pain. In a sombre voice, she says, “I don't know about the procedures or if Meera Jasmine was invited to a stage like IFFK when she got the National Award. But this was a national recognition an actress won after nearly one-and-a-half decades. My movie didn’t even get a platform; that is more painful.” 

A parallel screening of Minnaminungu is being planned in Thiruvananthapuram at 2.30 pm on Tuesday at Lenin Balavadi, next to the IFFK main venue Tagore Theatre. However, Surabhi says she doesn’t want to sound arrogant or greedy. “It’s not that I am trying prove that I am above all. Many had told me that we would watch the film at IFFK. Though we expected that our movie would get a screening space at IFFK, that didn’t happen. Even during the release, it was hurriedly pushed out of the theatres. With no favourable scene for distribution or screening, small films like ours are turned down everywhere. There was a last-minute inclusion of a category called ‘Films of Identity and Space’ in which even an Indian film made in 2013 was included. Ours too, fell under the same category; they could have easily included Minnaminungu,” she explains. 

When asked about the allegations, director Kamal says that no one was invited to the festival as there was no inaugural ceremony. “If she claims she hadn’t got the delegate pass, I’m sorry, no one can personally hand it over to her at her home. The passes are ready here and she could collect it any time if she comes here. All these are just allegations. There is this festival NFFK, National Film Festival of Kerala, organised by the Academy every year where National Award winners are honoured. Anyone who was on the dais, including yesteryear actress Sheela and Rajisha Vijayan, were not invited delegates. They were there because they had come to the festival. All the printed invites are lying in the office. With no official ceremony, how could we have invited anyone?” he asks. 

He adds that National Award winners Salim Kumar or Suraj Venjaramood, weren’t invited in the previous years. Regarding Minnaminungu being denied a screening space, Kamal says, according to the rules, a movie which doesn’t get selected in the competition category won’t be screened under any other category. “If I choose Minnaminungu for screening, bypassing the rules, someone can sue us. Would that be fine?” he asks. 

Surabhi says she had expected this. “I know they will have hundreds of reasons to not screen my movie at the IFFK; but there is only reason for them to screen Minnaminungu — this National Award.” 

The organisation of women members of the film fraternity, Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), has opened a stall at one of the festival venues with the tagline ‘Equal Space, Equal Opportunity’. When asked about the denial of opportunity to Surabhi and her movie at the fest, Rima Kallingal, a member of the outfit, expressed sadness over the turn of events. “I am really sad that Surabhi isn’t here. She deserved to be on the stage with the dignitaries; it was such a proud moment for all of us when she won the National Award. She must be the one to be the most celebrated person here at this festival. I am really disappointed that she is not here among us at this prestigious event,” she says. 

This year, the Chalachitra Academy stresses on 89 years of Malayalam cinema, with the IFFK signature film itself ‘welcoming 90 years’. With allegations like these cropping up, it is also a time for introspection, to know who all are left out in the celebrations.

 Published in Deccan Chronicle on December 10, 2017

Ode to Malayalam cinema

Every year, as curtains rise for the IFFK, along with the best movies from all over the world, excitement is high among cinephiles to know how the signature film is being made. This time, an aptly titled Sentimental Celluloid, directed by T.K. Rajeev Kumar, has won the hearts of movie buffs. The film opens to a tea stall of yesteryear, where a young lad sticks a poster on the wall. The poster keeps changing along with the movie names on the boy’s vest; together, the background music too varies from popular songs and punch dialogues of each era. As the attire and ambience varies as time progresses, the boy remains the same young guy with happy, curious eyes. And then, the credits roll in — ‘Welcoming 90 years of Malayalam cinema’. Rajeev Kumar, the man behind the signature film, says that it is more of a tribute to 90 years of Malayalam cinema. 

“I have tried to include all the milestones of Malayalam cinema. Any movie that comes to your mind has found a place in the film, either as poster, song or dialogues. The premises too change – there are people rallying carrying red flags, which subtly denotes the socio-political changes Kerala underwent. Towards the end, a crowd walks towards the boy who faces them as various movies play in the background. It represents hope; that films will always continue to motivate and entertain people,” he explains. 

The interesting factor that catches your eye is that this time, the film has not many animation or graphic elements. “That was a conscious decision. I wanted to add a human element to it. The theme is based on nostalgia. The flickering movie names on the boy's costume is a reference to the magic of visual language. That the boy never ages points towards the eternal youthfulness of Malayalam cinema. Whatever changes happen, movies are here to stay and will never die,” he clarifies. 

To criticism that the signature film focuses on just Malayalam films in a festival that caters to an international audience, Rajeev Kumar recalls how acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk was taken by surprise during IFFK 2013 when a bus on the road slowed down and the passengers screamed 'Kim Ki-duk'. “Our film literacy and passion are very high. It's a matter of pride for us as the hosts of IFFK that our cinema is turning 90 years old. Let the whole world too know that our movies are beyond the 'Malayalam Cinema Today' category.”

 Published in Deccan Chronicle on December 9, 2017