My film on Kamala Das won’t be sanitised to cater to mainstream tastes
Asha Prakash| Mar 6, 2017, 00:00 IST
Says Tamil writer Leena Manimekalai, who alleges that director Kamal is more bothered about the commercial demands of the movie than the poet’s soul, which is why she felt the need to go ahead with her own version of a film on Kamala Das
You wrote on your social media post that you had also planned to make a film on Kamala Das.
I always wanted to do a film on Kamala Das and had read through her works in depth. But what inspired me to make a movie was this book called Love Queen of Malabar, written by a Canadian author Merrily Weisbord. It gave me interesting insights into her life. My idea was that her eventful life should be portrayed in an honest manner. I read all her works in English and translations of the Malayalam works. I envisioned the film as an Indian English film, a fictional take on her life and not a biopic. It would be my take on what essence I get from her life and works.
Did you discuss the work with Kamal who is also making a film on the poet?
I wrote the script with the help of my translator and poet Ravishankar. It was at that point of time that Kamal spoke to me, around three years back. I knew Kamal since one decade and he was a good friend. He told me about his project and said he had always felt I look like Kamala and would like me to play the poet in his film. I said I’m also working on my script and didn’t announce it as its still being developed. I always take the independent filmmaker route, not the commercial one. I sent my script to him, to which he replied that it was too radical for the Malayali audience. ‘Your films are for the international audience. I do films for the Malayali audience so it has to be a mainstream project for me,’ he said. He sent his script to me which I found to be a different take altogether. Malayalam readers might have that image of her which I’m not familiar with.
What did you decide then?
We decided that he will make Aami in Malayalam while I will do the English version for the international audience, which can be radical like the one I wrote. That can be called Kamala Das and I had the full freedom in that though it would be a colloboration. So I went with the faith I had in him.
Later he called me and said that he has cast Vidya Balan in the role and the project is big now. So, we came to an agreement that Aami can have Vidya Balan in the lead while Kamala will have me.
Aami was supposed to start in December and Kamala in June. However, when I met Kamal at the IFFK last year, he told me that Hindutva groups are pressurising Vidya Balan to back out. At that point, I just wished that he gets out of the crisis.
No, I casually learnt from a website that Manju Warrier is now doing the film! There should be a valid reason for Kamal to use a particular actor for a script, right? He was succumbing to market interests and it was not a film which would do justice to Kamala.
Also, if Kamal is honest, shouldn’t he come back to me when Vidya backs out? He should have had a discussion at least with me. I felt counted out. He might have his reasons for everything but I sent a message to him saying, ‘The demands from the market are much more important than the poet’s soul itself for you; I’ll go independent and am not interested in a collaboration.’
So what are you planning to do next?
I think I’ll go back to my script and do it my own ways and means. My focus will be on the bundle of contradictions that she was and to present her charm as such. She lived her life to the fullest and her sexuality was that of a free spirit. It reflects in her poetry as well. She has spoken about her husband being a gay and has revealed her love for a young Muslim man in The Love Queen of Malabar. When asked why she converted to Islam, she replies, ‘all for love’. I want to capture all such tender and beautiful moments on screen. She is an enigma and that has to be captured with all the sincerity. I don’t want to go for a sanitised version to cater to mainstream moral standards.
When will the project take off?
I am in no hurry. I had held back this project for Kamal’s film. So, now I’ll revisit my script. I have other projects as well. It’ll take a year at least
I will direct a film on Kamala Das: Leena Manimekalai
DECCAN CHRONICLE. | MERIN JAMES
Published Mar 3, 2017, 12:00 am IST
Link: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/kollywood/030317/i-will-direct-a-film-on-kamala-das-leena-manimekalai.html
Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai is all set to direct the biopic of the Indian English poet and writer Kamala Das aka Madhavikutty.
When Malayalam film maker Kamal announced that he would be directing a biopic on the late poet Kamala Das, it piqued curiosity among audiences everywhere. Earlier, it was reported that Bollywood actress Vidya Balan would reprise the role of Kamala in the film titled Aami. But recently, the actress walked out of the project for unknown reasons. Later, the director roped in Manju Warrier for the same.
Now, Chennai-based filmmaker-poet Leena Manimekalai has come into the picture and declared that she will also be directing an independent film on Kamala Das! Apparently, Kamal had approached Leena with the idea of a biopic three years ago. “He called me and said that I resembled ‘Madhavikkutty’ (Kamala) and whether I could act in the movie. By that time, inspired by the book Love Queen of Malabar and her complete works, I had co-written a script with my Malayalam translator Ravi Shankaren. I had informed Kamal of this and even sent him a copy of the script,” reveals Leena, adding that the director had commented that it was too radical for the Malayali audience.
“He asked me to learn Malayalam and get prepared to essay the role in the script he wrote instead,” she adds. After a few months though, Kamal called Leena and informed her that the film was being made on a larger scale — and that Vidya Balan had been roped in for the Malayalam version! “Kamal said Vidya would be the heroine in the Malayalam project — but I’d be taking on the onus in English. But when Vidya backed out due to pressure given by right-wing groups, he roped in Manju Warrier for the Mollywood film, and dropped the idea of the English project altogether!” Leena exclaims.
“Kamal is a senior filmmaker and he might have his own reasons. But what bothered me is that after discussing the script and other details, he couldn’t keep his word. So I’ve decided to go ahead and direct an independent film on Kamala Das. I would like to focus on the film I left behind three years ago. Only an independent expression can place a poet’s soul ahead of market interests,” quips the filmmaker.
So, what’s next ? Leena shares, “I had put aside my script which I originally wrote, as I was promised to be cast in Kamal’s Aami (Malayalam) initially and Kamala Das (English) later. But now, I am not interested to collaborate with him on any level. I am going back to my original script — which is more of a fictional take on Kamala Das’ life, works and the memories she left behind with the people who were close to her. I have to start from scratch now!”
Leena has sharpened the story draft and started looking for production. “I will go through my own independent filmmaking route, by searching for international co-producers and make the film on a global level. for an international audience. As my film The Sunshine is on the roll now, I will be patient with Kamala Das. It will be nuanced and layered with the essence of a poet’s soul,” she signs off. The film will be shot in Kerala, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Canada and will be finished by the end of 2018.
