‘My effort has been to try out things that not many would dare to’

Even as Jayaraj’s ‘Roudram 2018’ gets set for a release in July, the director is busy planning his new films

Versatility is director Jayaraj’s forte. In a career spanning three decades, he has made movies with a wide range of themes and has had his share of highs and lows. For him, failures are a fuel to strive harder. He believes that his experience and willingness to adapt to new technology keep him updated.

His latest in the ‘Navarasa series’, Roudram 2018, with Renji Panicker and KPAC Leela playing a couple in their eighties, releases next month. Moreover, his adaptation of writer Ponkunnam Varkey’s Shabdikkunna Kalappa was screened in the just-concluded 12th International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala.

Director Jayaraj

Director Jayaraj
 
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The zest to make movies keeps him going, says Jayaraj in this interview. He aims at completing the Navarasa series. “But, I have been doing experimental films for a while and now I am looking forward to doing a masala flick.” Edited excerpts…

What is Roudram 2018, the seventh movie in your ‘Navarasa’ series, about?

The story, which has been conceived as nature’s fury or ‘roudra rasam’, is based on on the experience of aged parents of a family friend. They got stranded in the attic of their house at Pandanad in Chengannur during the floods last year. Their neighbours had no idea they were stuck inside and for several days, they could not be contacted. In the film, the story is narrated from their perspective.

What prompted you to initiate the ‘Navarasa’ series?

The original plan was to make a movie showing the navarasas of rain. But as I started working on it, I realised that it could not be limited to just one film. Every situation that we experience in life is enhanced by the presence of rain. Like, for instance, the isolation in old age that was depicted against the backdrop of rain in Karunam, the political violence in between the rain in Shantham or the representation of war as rain in Bhayanakam.

You have made movies based on works by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, William Shakespeare and Anton Chekhov. What attracts you to the classics?

I am curious to analyse why it became a classic. There is an universal element and relevance in such works that transcend time. Chekhov’s short story Vanka, on which Ottal was based, talks about child labour in the 1800s and it is existing even now. The cruel possessiveness of Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello, which inspired Kaliyattam, is seen even in those who are supposedly modern or educated. The challenge is to transport the characters and the dialogues on to the current context. I have been planning to adapt Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment for quite a while now.

Is there an audience for films that move away from the commercial format?

There are crowds for serious movies at film festivals. But curiously enough, they don’t turn up to watch such experiments at theatres. That is the sad part. In that way, awards often become a burden, when you try for a theatrical release. Everywhere else, appreciation and awards are seen as a merit but in Kerala, even if you give ads showing the awards won by the film, the viewers stay away from the theatres.

Are you happy with the experiments happening in Malayalam now?

With such fabulous movies like Ee. Ma. Yau., Sudani from Nigeria and Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, there are certainly a lot of exciting attempts happening in Malayalam cinema. The acceptance for realistic styles of narration is heartening. At the same time, I feel if more films are conceived with fresh faces in the lead roles, such experiments could be even more meaningful. It has happened in the past. Like what Bharathettan (director Bharathan) did in Lorry with Achankunju or Thakara with Nedumudi Venu, Pratap Pothen and Surekha.

Your filmography is quite a curious mix of masala and serious films.

I enjoy movies of all genres. Honestly, my effort has been to try out things that not many would dare to. That has been the reason for both my success and failure.

Even the songs in your movies showcase the same interesting variety.

It happens when the youthful energy that we cherish in our mind coincides with that of the audience. It is overwhelming when songs like ‘Shanthamee rathriyil’, ‘Lajjavathiye’, ‘Nillu nillu’ or ‘Kaliveedurangiyallo’ continue to be popular after so many years.

You recently made a short film based on writer Ponkunnam Varkey’s Shabdikkunna Kalappa.

Short films have to be precise and compact and that is very challenging. Shabdikkunna Kalappa has a social relevance, wherein the communication between a man and his pet bullock is narrated with a lot of sensitivity.

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