Harikumar is a director from the old generation of Malayalam cinema. Four decades have passed since he became a director with the film ‘Ambalpoov’. He has directed 18 story films so far. He is still making films continuously. This is the first screenplay written by Mukundan at the age of 80. When Suraj Venjaramood becomes the hero, Anne Augustine returns to acting with a strong heroine role.
Harikumar speaks….
Can older generations like you absorb the change in cinema?
“I am a person who watches new movies from all over the world. I am a member of many juries with the aim of watching a good movie. I am still learning about cinema. The cinema is not what it was when we started directing. The production method and the technology have changed. The way of telling the story and the acting style have changed. .There was a significant change when I was shooting ‘Sukrit’ compared to the time when I was shooting ‘Ambalpoov’ and ‘Eur Prasham’. There have been big changes since the time of ‘Sukrit’. People like director Joshi have changed with the times. He is making films in a new presentation style.”
Can’t all old people learn technological change?
“Film is gone in cinema. With the advent of digital cameras, the weight of the camera has reduced. It is easy to handle. Big experiments are being done in cinematography. You can shoot the film even on a mobile phone. In the past, we used to edit the film using a machine called Movieola. After cutting and pasting the film, you can watch it through Movieola. It is stopped by stepping. We cut the part we are talking about with scissors. Then we scrape it and paste it with glue. Later on, tape came instead of glue. After cutting and pasting like this, the negative is cut according to it. There are experts for that. Now we can edit it on a laptop or mobile. If we have a laptop, we can edit it sitting at home. .
In the past, films were carried in cans in large iron boxes. Today, the entire film can be stored on a pen drive. In the past, the dialogues were dubbed piece by piece. Now it is spot dubbing. This is how most of Mammootty’s films are done. The director can see on the monitor and make changes while shooting each scene. The dialogues look very natural when spot dubbed. But doing so takes more time for shooting. In this way it can take up to 70–90 days to complete the shooting. In my new film, the old style dubbing is done in 40 days. Filming has been completed.
Is drug use increasing in the film industry?
“Not everyone in the new generation is considered to be a drug user. The availability of drugs has greatly increased. In the past, there were people who used to come to the set by hitting the chair. It stopped with a curt nod. No one comes to the set drunk like that. Each time has a different method. With the arrival of the caravan, many people can use intoxicants secretly. When the caravan culture came, the fun camaraderie of filming disappeared. During the shooting of my film, Mammootty, Nedumudi and Jagathy used to joke around and talk about everything in the world. Now everyone has a separate caravan. As soon as the shoot is over, everyone goes to the caravan.
Features of the new film?
“The auto rickshaw puller’s wife” tells an interesting story through humor. The shooting took place in the areas surrounding M. Mukundan’s home in Mahi. He was with me all the time. Suraj, who is from Thiruvananthapuram, spoke the language of Mahi. It took him two or three days to learn it. Later, Suraj spoke in the same language to those who came to see the shooting. Suraj plays a lazy auto driver. If he sees a music festival going on while running, he will leave his car and go there. He doesn’t like to talk to passengers and get money. He is interested in everything except driving an autorickshaw. Suraj is the best actor.
Anne Augustine plays the role of a wife who comes into the life of an auto rickshaw puller unaware of his character. Ann, who stopped acting after her marriage, is coming back to the cinema after 4 years. This will be her best role so far. Being born and brought up in Kozhikode, Ann did not have much difficulty in handling the Mahi language. This is not an award-winning film. If you get an award, you will be happy. Even if you don’t get one, you won’t feel bad. The main goal is for people to see the film. The songs composed by Ousepachan have already been noticed.