Navarasa at the Pusan Festival

Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) is termed the most prestigious film festival in Asia. The 10th festival will be held from October 6 to 14, and one of the Indian films selected is Santosh Sivan's National Award-winning Navarasa (Nine Emotions), which was first screened at the Oceanic Asian film festival.

The other Indian directors whose films have been selected are Buddhadev Dasgupta, Deepa Mehta and Vishal Bharadwaj. There is, of course, a screening of a Satyajit Ray film too.

Two shows of Navarasa have already been sold out, a rare distinction. The other Indian film with one show sold out is Deepa Mehta's Water.

Navarasa is the story of people belonging to the third gender, which Sivan shot without a proper written script. He went to the Kuttandavar-Aravan Festival at Koovagam in Villupuram where Aravanis -- as they are called in Tamil Nadu -- assemble and re-enact the myth of Aravan, son of Arjuna and Nagakanya (a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu).

The film is shown through the eyes of a 13-year old girl, Swetha. When she discovers that her uncle Gautam is leading a secret life, transforming himself into a woman every night, she confronts him. She follows him to the annual Koovagam festival and the story of Aravanis is narrated thus.

This, according to the filmmaker, is the Aravan myth: 'At one point in the Kurukshetra war, a human sacrifice was required and a young warrior named Aravan, son of Arjuna and Nagakanniga, was chosen. But he had a desire to marry. Since no woman was willing to be a widow just after marriage, Lord Krishna assumed the form of Mohini and married him; hence the third gender is believed to be reincarnates of Lord Krishna.'

Thousands of the third gender gather and marry Lord Aravan symbolically at Koovagam. Once the statue of Aravan is beheaded, they break their bangles and wail, dressed in white.

After The Terrorist, Malli and Halo, Navarasa is another halo around Santosh Sivan's image as a director. After the Pusan festival, the film will be shown at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan, Sao Paulo International Film Festival in Brazil and Lyon Asian Film Festival, France. Needless to say, there will be many more festivals to follow.

Text: Shobha Warrier