'I felt bad when I learnt I was not taken seriously and ridiculed'
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Priyadarshan Click for bigger pic!
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Don't you have to compromise somewhere to make it commercially viable?
See, I am trying to create something new, which nobody has done before in India. My new film, Saat Rang ke Sapne, is about a bullock cart trip, nautanki dances etc., all in a Rajasthani village setting. It is more like an art film but it has got songs, fights and all there is in a commercial film.
My first attempt in Hindi was Gardish (a remake of Kireedom, a Mohanlal starrer) which was an ordinary film on the underworld, but when you look at it from the point of view of a middle class policeman's family, it looks so real: the people, their emotions and the situation. A common man could identify with their feelings.
In Malayalam, you made original films, but in Hindi, you are remaking either your own or somebody else's films. Don't' you feel constrained by this?
No, not at all. When I saw the original versions of Virasat and Gardish, I felt the content was so good but that they had shot the films very badly. I knew that if I could get such content, I could shoot it much better. That was what I did. Thevar Magan, I feel, is a very crudely shot film, but the content was very good. When I shot it in Hindi, I made it look better.
When did this change take place in you?
From comedy to serious films?
No, in technical awareness. Technically your earlier films were very bad. But it seems now you give more emphasis to the technical quality than content.
See, you learn a lot when you make a film. As I always watched both kinds of films, I wanted commercial films to attain the perfection of an art film's quality. If we can achieve that, the two terms, commercial and art, become redundant. That is why I am putting the commercial film into a more decent, more authentic format. With each film of mine, I was learning about the art of movie-making.
From where did you learn more, by making films or by watching them?
From both. From making my own movies as well as by watching the movies directed by people who are better than me. A shot of Shyam Benegal inspires me a lot. I wonder why a film of David Dhawan cannot have a shot like that.
You made such beautiful comedies in Malayalam and you gained a lot of recognition too. Why then did you move away from them?
It is true that I got recognition. But however good the comedies are, nobody will accept a good comedy director as a good director. That is the sad part of it. Nobody knows who directed the Laurel and Hardy movies. They know only Laurel and Hardy. Directors will never get a good name if they direct a comedy film.
But it is the most difficult thing to do -- to make people laugh. After laughing a lot, they will brush aside the film as 'just another comedy'. I felt bad when I learnt I was not taken seriously and ridiculed, even after all those hits.
Who ridiculed you? I think the public loved all those comedy films.
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Priyadarshan with Mohanlal. Click for bigger pic!
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The critics. Most of them hide their faces and laugh a lot but they criticise the films later on. They feel that if they appreciate a comedy, they may become intellectually inferior.
Are you taking a revenge on those critics by moving away from comedies?
I am not taking revenge. I just want to prove that I can do a better job with different subjects too.
For a person who made so many very good slapstick comedies in Malayalam, you look very serious.
I enjoy humour, I can write humour, but I am a bad presenter. This is not the first time somebody has asked me this question. A lot of people who have seen me and my films have said, "You look so serious. How come you write comedies?" I am like this.
You rarely smile.
Yes, I don't know why. I don't do this intentionally but it happens (laughs).
Do you laugh watching your own movies?
If I ever laugh, that film will be a major hit. But I seldom laugh watching my movies. I sometimes laugh while writing it. But I don't laugh at all while making it or watching it.
Did none of your movies made you laugh? Even now we laugh a lot watching Chitram, Kilukkam, Poochakkoru Mookuthi etc.
After making a film and watching it several times during the editing process etc, I used to feel, "This is going to be a flop. Nobody will laugh." See, I cannot laugh after some time. I don't enjoy the comedy, while making it. But while writing it, I enjoy it a lot. If I laugh while writing a scene or a line, I know it will be a hit with the people.
Do you sit in seclusion and write?
Always.
Recently when I interviewed Lohitadas, he said he gets so involved in his stories that the events make him even cry, since he thinks, feels and experiences like each of his character. Do you also get emotionally involved?
No, I don't get emotionally involved. I always visualise and write. Being a director, I see each frame in front of me while I write. I even think of the cutting point too. I never look at things from the artist's point of view; it if always the director's point of view.
How much did growing up as the son of a librarian and reading a lot of books help you in your writing?
Thanks to my father, whatever little I am doing now is because of what I read when I was young.
Have you moved away from literature now?
It is happening to all of us now. This generation is more into television. Fortunately, I have started reading once again. For the last two months, I have been reading a lot. When I found that I could not find the right words while writing, I understood it was high time I got back to my books. If you don't read, your words don't get polished. Recently when I was writing the script of Chandralekha, suddenly I found that I had forgotten how to write some letters.
Now that you are in Bombay most of the time, making Hindi films, you might have lost touch with Malayalam also.
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A still from his Kalapani. Click for bigger pic!
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No, I don't think I will ever forget Malayalam. See, you learnt it, you lived with it. It is there within me. No, I will never forget Malayalam. After two years, I will come back to Malayalam. I will not stay there in Bombay.
You will go back after two years? But why? Is it to prove something to somebody that you are there in Bombay?
No, I need some money. That is the simple reason.
Recently I have read an interview of yours in The Hindu. You have said that you are an expensive director. By expensive, what exactly do you mean? That you charge more, or that to make a movie, you need more money?
I don't charge more. To make a film, I need more money. I don't mind taking less money from a producer as long as he is willing to spend more on making the film. I give preference to such producers. I am not very particular about money at all. Till today I have not even produced a bill. I want a producer who can spend money on my film. I don't want him to spend money on me.
You will not get such rich producers in Malayalam. Then why do you want to come back to Kerala? You get national exposure by making Hindi films?
See, you get fed up of things as days go by. I think I am already reaching that level with Hindi films. The kind of job satisfaction that you get while you make a Malayalam film is not there in a Hindi film. Chandralekha gave me a lot of satisfaction as a director and it is a big hit in Kerala.
Why is it that you don't get the same kind of satisfaction from Hindi films? You said, you are experimenting a lot in Hindi films, which you could never do in Malayalam moves.
It is basically because of the stars who do not give proper dates. There is no commitment on their part at all. They are not thinking of one film, but several films. Naturally the work becomes very artificial and there will not be any involvement in the character that you portray. You work like a machine when you are not committed.
Is the kind of dedication that you see in Malayalam actors lacking in them?
Exactly. All of them have this attitude that they are working for somebody ales. I feel they have a lot of other interest too. Very few of them, let me stress, only very few of them are dedicated to their work. But they too cannot work because of others. So all them fall into the same trap.
So, you don't want to fall into the trap?
I don't want that to happen to me. In Malayalam, we have very dedicated, very disciplined, very talented artists. As the budget is limited, all of them understand that we have to finish the film in one stretch. Here, they are so laid back. It is not that they lack intent. The system is wrong and the artists sell themselves as properties. Basically their attitude is wrong.
Is it not frustrating for you to work with such people after working with the dedicated and disciplined artists of Malayalam?
Very frustrating. Very, very frustrating.
How do you tackle the problem?
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A still from his Virasat. Click for bigger pic!
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Most of them understand when you tell them. I tell them, this is the way I want to work. And they are ready to co-operate. I think they are like that may be because of the luxurious life they lead. I really do not know why they have this attitude. All of us from the south have this habit of working hard, but they are lazy.
When you call an actor in Malayalam or Tamil for a shot, they are there at that instant. But I find that when you call a Hindi artist, he or she is there only after five or ten minutes. The way they walk, the way they pose in front of the camera... Everything is so slow there.
Earlier, you said you don't to be branded as a comedy director. But recently you made Chandrelekha with Mohanlal, an out and out comedy. Why?
Chandralekha is going to be my last comedy film. Hereafter, my films will have humour but no comedy. I am not interested in comedy any more. I just wanted to make one comedy and prove to people that I still can make one and make it successfully.
Chandralekha is the biggest hit in the history of Malayalam cinema. It has crossed the marks of all other big hits.
You, Mohanlal, M G Sreekumar and many other who are in Malayalam movies now grew up together. Did you discuss movies even when you were young?
Yes, we were interested in movies. The only entertainment available to a lower middle class and middle class Indian is movies.
Did you think about entering the film world then?
No. It all happened accidentally that all of us are here in the movies. All of us wanted to get some job and live comfortably, that all. But we used to discuss movies. Just like all the other.
What was your dream then?
I was a small-time cricketer then. After a ball hit my eye, it was bye-bye to cricket. I might have been in some bank as a clerk, or an officer at the most. Then I started writing and got a couple of awards for my short stores.
Films also just happened. Once I got into movies, I began taking them very seriously, but only after the first five years. It was just fun for me earlier. I was enjoying myself then. Slowly, looking at the defects and merits of my own films, I got interested in movies.
Or was it the acceptance that you got from the public which that made you consider films more seriously?
See, I got acceptance with my first film itself, without me expecting it to happen. I didn't know anything about a camera when I started, because I never worked as an assistant director. I just started with my knowledge of writing. Slowly, I learnt from my earlier mistakes.
People accepted me because my attitude to the content of a movie was right. Later, when I started enjoying my work, I wanted to become good. My ambition is, after I retire, I want my children to be proud of me. I should have at least two good films in my name. That's why I want to come back and make serious Malayalam films.
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A still from his Virasat. Click for bigger pic!
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Are you not satisfied with any of the movies that you have made so far?
The success of a film alone will not give you satisfaction. The day I feel that I have made one film that has the quality of a David Lean film, I will stop working.
Aren't you satisfied with Kalapani also?
I had to compromise a lot to make the film run. But it is a learning process. I have not seen an Indian film like Bicycle Thief till now. It is a film which will make you laugh, cry and feel the agony of an ordinary man. A film like Schindler's List is so true. I want to make a film that is very true.
Last time we met you said your dream project is a movie on the struggle of the people who got affected by the Gulf War. When are you going to make the film?
Not now. Let me make some money now, I will make it later.
What will you do with all this money?
I want a little bit of security for my family. See, I still live in a small flat. I am not living a big mansion. I want to make myself secure. And once you have the secure feeling, you can do whatever you want.
If I feel that way even tomorrow, I can leave the slightly upper-middle class life that I lead now and start experimenting with my work. When my duty to my children is fulfilled, I will start experimenting with life itself.
What satisfies you most -- material comforts, or something else?
It varies from person to person. Some may have Rs 20 billion with them, and still not be satisfied. We may feel, "Why does he need that much money? Can't he keep Rs 10 billion with him and give away the rest? I will be happy if I have an asset worth 100,000. But a bank clerk might feel, "He is too greedy. Why does he need Rs 100,000? It varies from person to person.
What will make you happy?
I enjoy my work the most. I feel very happy when someone says, "That film of yours is very good." But I have not done a good film which can really satisfy me. I want at least one film of mine to be remembered. I want my children to be proud of me and my film. They should be able to show it to someone and say, "My father made this".
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