`Raamanam:' a re-depiction of Kunhabdulla's famous novel
Posted on: 21 Sep 2009
Translation of fiction to screen is nothing new in Malayalam cinema. Right from Adoor Gopalakrishnan who filmed legendary writer Vaikom Mohammed Basheer's `Mathilukal,' the trend has been very much on in films in the language. M P Sukumaran Nair, a one-time assistant of Adoor and a noted face in parallel cinema in Malayalam, is the latest entrant to the fiction-to-film genre, with his new film `Raamanam' (Night Sky), based on `Smarakasilakal,' a celebrated Malayalam novel by Punathil Kunhabdulla. The film was previewed for a selected audience here the other day. Sukumaran Nair, who has four films to his credit, is turning to fiction for making a film for the first time. Unlike Adoor and many other directors who had ventured to visualise literature, Sukumaran Nair is attempting an entire re-depiction of the novel, which may raise many eyebrows. Nair has his own reasons to do so. 'I firmly believe that it is not the work of a director to literally translate a fiction into a film. Fiction should be modified to suit the entirely different medium of cinema,' he told PTI in an interview. The director said he chose `Smarakasilakal' as he loved the novel. 'The soul of the novel and the characters remain the same in the film, but in a different time setting, which I thought was necessary,' he said. 'Smarakasilakal' is a poignant tale of the life of a Thangal (spiritual head) belonging to the Muslim community in Malabar, his virtues and vices, through which it dwells on the lives of his fellow-beings. Set in the forties, the novel portrays the social milieu of the times through the protagonist, representing Muslim community, and the lives of people around him, whereas the film has a different story to tell. Sukumaran Nair said he felt that the story of a Muslim chieftain in the forties, who did not have any role in the social developments including the freedom struggle as depicted in the novel, would not click in the present days. And so, while he did not change the characters including Thangal, he changed the setting to include events like the Emergency, Babri Masjid demolition, split in the Kerala Muslim League and a discreet love affair between Thangal's daughter and the orphaned boy who he brings up as his son. The director also conveniently discards the pungent portions in the novel that elaborates on the vices of Thangal including his flirtations with women. In the novel, Thangal is killed in connection with a sex scandal, while in the film, he meets with a natural death. The film highlights only the virtues of Thangal,obviously not to hurt the community that he represents. 'This is not the time to portray the Muslim community, represented by Thangal in the film, in a bad light,' the director says. 'His virtue in bringing up an orphaned Hindu boy, whom he brings up as a Muslim fearing ire of the community, is more important. He also teaches his daughter Nangyar Koothu, the traditional Hindu art,' Nair said. On the complex narrative style of the film, the director said Kunhabdulla had never adopted a linear narrative mode in his novels. 'There will be so many sub-stories in his novels which are very much part of his writings,' he said. PTI
