Pioneering spirits in any field have certain characteristics in common. Adventurous, full of life, vibrant with vision, driven by passion. But it is true that pioneering spirits, may have tragic ends - because passion overtook caution, and they were way ahead of their time...They are running through this short life. They cannot sit tight because they are on a mission. They are on fire....
'Celluloid' is the film on the life of JC Daniel, the father of Malayalam movie making, who died a pauper in a remote village. As a young man he spent all his money on making the first movie in Malayalam - a silent one made in 1928. He got a woman from the lower cast to take lead role, at a time when women were not allowed do anything independently. The actress - Rosy - never got to see her part on the screen. She was driven away from the theatre on the day of inauguration of the film. The upper caste 'babus' couldn't tolerate watching it with her in the same theatre.
Daniel went on to become a pauper because he couldn't run it in other theatres in Kerala. He ran away to Tamil Nadu, and was drawn into film making again, only to become a pauper again. He spent his last days with his faithful wife - alone... struggling to survive.
Worth watching. I enjoyed every minute of it. Superb direction and story telling by Kamal ..
The poison of the caste system is shown vividly, including the parochial thinking of the IAS officer, a well respected person otherwise... Daniel was recognized posthumously. His wife struggled with him during his last days - even wrote a letter to the friends as an appeal. But nobody cared about him during his life time - except Mr. Gopalakrishnan who tried to get him some help from the government.
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Sunday, March 10, 2013
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