American philosopher and theorist Stanley Cavell raises some interesting questions about cinema, one of which is why everyone thinks of themselves as cinephiles. Another is why audiences are interested in the subplots and backstories of films in a way that they are not in other art forms. These questions come to my mind when I think about Chitrasutra. M. Chitrasutra is based on Nandakumar’s story ‘Varthali: A Love Drama in Cyber Space’. Born before its time in Malayalam literature, M. is almost impossible and belongs to the category of speculative fiction for me. This story of Nandakumar. I was making this film amid the confusion of the audio-visual explosion that was taking shape in the country at that time. Conceptually, grammatically, or even Chitrasutra seems to me to be a premature picture. Anyway, Chitrasutra is a strange experience for me. There has never been another event in my career that has taken such a toll on me mentally, physically and financially. I don’t want to remember it again. But I am sure that the film has tried to discuss the environment and personalities of people in the new world order and their sense of alienation in different ways and levels. The world of Chitrasutra is primarily that of the technological unconscious. That is the fundamental crux of the film. One thing that can be added to that is what the future of the body will be when humans go cyberspace.
The film deals with ideological issues. These questions were not familiar to any study, either local or universal. It tried to make a computer program and human interaction possible. The tone of the film is tied to the imaginary model of a future beyond humanity, where all the pillars of humanity and humanity are under observation. The real framework of the film is the problems of keeping mind and body in balance. Man and computer program. In other words, the film is about molding an ancient past. The film has tried to give an ancient place to rituals. Memory is the state in which a person relates to the past. I was searching in the Chitrasutra at what level of consciousness this person is in relation to. I thought it was very relevant.
Before the digital revolution completely wiped out the chemical medium, 35 mm. Chitrasutram was the last film I shot on film. Since then, modern Indian cinema has seen many changes in its dynamics.