An Hour with John Paul
Tamil, Telugu and Hindi
films have become box office hits as they have been inspired by Malayalam films
of 80’s and 90’s. Malayalam films are still deeply rooted in 80’s and 90’s. We
are thirty years behind and have not made any progress.
John Paul’s versatile way of writing scripts made him a
successful scriptwriter of Malayalam cinema. He resigned his successful career
as a bank employee to pursue his ambition as a full time script writer.
Recently he has written books which recollect old memories of his friends in
cinema. The deep relationship between yesteryear directors Bharathan and Mohan
made him stay in Malayalam Cinema. He has written scripts for more than 100
films. The Veteran scriptwriter has particular views on cinema and he shares
his experiences in a casual talk at his small flat in ‘maradu’ near Ernakulam.
1 How do you analyze Malayalam film industry from your 30
years of experience?
I understand the fact that there is a great distance between
me and new Malayalam cinema. I think the new coming Malayalam films are not a
part of my way of writing and they are not related to me and if I were to write
those films it won’t be good for me and the film itself. It may be my
limitation or otherwise the specialty of those films. What has happened to
Malayalam films can be judged by the audience as films are made for them.
However I will not hold the audience guilty because new stories are far from
realistic. The audience are individuals. They are not organized and so not
capable of requesting for films of their choice. Art is the “Lyrical
Exaggeration of Reality’. But now it has turned to “Absurd Exaggeration of
reality”.
2 Is this the very reason why your film “Vellathooval” was
not accepted by the people?
Vellathooval is not at all a good film and I don’t have
anything to hide in this statement. Actually the director of this film IV Sasi
was responsible for my entry into film
industry . When he told me to write the script, I was not able to say no because
of the deep relationship between us. If
I had told him ‘no’ he would have
changed the story itself. But now I regret in not doing so.
3 So, you give importance to friendship?
Obviously, we are human beings .Every person has his own
justifications of what he does. IV Sasi
came much before my entry to film industry and he was much popular at that
time. Iam not blaming him but he was not able to swim with the tide. I was also
not able to correct him and advise him that films should be made according to changes
in time. I was also not able to stand firm and the two vices stood together to
form a great mistake. I have no regrets in saying that Vellathooval is not at
all a good film.
4 What all factors have influenced you in the formation and
development of characters in your films?
They includes many factors and mostly our own experiences,
for example what all events and things happen on our way will also be taken for
development of the story .The knowledge from reading and experiences from our
own life add to the formation of characters. The other major factor is acquired
culture which is inborn and transferred or passed through genes. When a musician sits with his harmonium to
compose music the tunes coming will be
those composed by Beethoven or Mozart years back. This is because of a natural phenomenon
happening unknowingly. Sometimes when we write a book or article the word
usages used by the characters are not there in our usual vocabulary . This
particular usage is needed for the character at that particular point of time
and these things are acquired automatically. This happened knowingly or
unknowingly and it can also be happened because of our sixth sense .
5 How were you able to maintain a chemistry between
Bharathan, Mohan, IV Sasi etc?
I have worked with many of the directors and every one had built his own empire. There were
directors who had provoked and revoked my feelings and made me understand the
hidden talents in me. But some were not able to strike that vibration in me and
so I was not able to make me understand the talents in me. In these cases
writings were mechanical one. The
vibration that entrusted me was different when working with different
directors. My teachers have told me to write the script on the directors mind
before writing it on paper. It means ,there should be a deep relation between
the director and script writer during the writing of the script. Two minds and
two brains join together to form a new
story and this forms the agony and ecstasy of life. After that it is the
technical area of cinema. This is
different with different directors. I have done films with Bharathan and
sometimes Bharathan’s mind had gone rigid and sometimes my mind had gone out of
the way.We cant say anything about the mind and You have studied in chemistry
about the combination of water(H2o) ie two molecule of hydrogen and one
molecule of oxygen, But this is not possible in the case of art. The chemistry
formed beyond the chemistry of feelings and attitudes result in the real
chemistry between a director and scriptwriter. This means that a difficult
passage is travelled by two different individuals with two different minds for
a single result. A film watched by ten individuals make ten films because they
will include their own experiences while viewing and it is known as co –
authoring. We should understand that a film is viewed by lakhs of people and
lakhs of films are made out of a single film and this medium is having that
much reach. We are trying to make these
factors come true but it is not at all possible to say that a film was
successful in doing so. I have a good relationship with all these directors and
it was different exposure on different days.
6 Of these directors, who were you close to?
Talking about friendship, I have worked mostly with Bharathan
and Mohan. P.N Menon had seen me as his own son and KS Sethumadhavan was an
elder brother to me. I have friends out of film world too but in cinema I think
I have worked and cooperated more with Bharathan and Mohan. Our families
maintain a good relationship each other.
7 How was your conversion from a bank employee to a full time
script writer?
I think you had read this from somewhere, Do you know a John
Paul who was a freelance journalist and who worked in film societies?. I got a
job at Canara bank after completing my MA in Economics and I was a popular
employee and a union worker in the bank. From the first day when I signed the
attendance register I knew that I won’t stay there for long. I was sure that I
would stick on to journalism or writing but I had no idea of joining the
cinema. In fact it took me 11 years to come to cinema. Maybe it is because of
Bharathan and Mohan, I was there in cinema for a long period.
8 How was your coming to “Chamaram”?
It was a time when I was working in film societies and
Bharathan had directed his first film “Prayanam”. This was a point of time when
KG. George came with “Swapnadanam” which stood between experimental film and
commercial film and it had realistic and artistic values a person who was
passionate to cinema I felt it my duty to work behind it. As a journalist I had
already a relationship with Bharathan, Mohan, George etc as I had written
features on them. I had earlier had casual talks with Bharathan on cinema and
other subjects and I hadn’t even thought of coming to cinema then. One day IV
Sasi came and asked me to write a story and that was my first film ‘Njan njan
Mathram’. The screenplay was written by Thoppil Bhasi. I was reluctant to write
the story as I have not even written a short story till now. Iam also not good
at fiction writing and so I don’t like to write because I respect those who
write it. But the producer with whom Sasi came, by mistake liked the story and
my first film was born. It was at this time that Bharathan came and told that
he wanted to do a campus film. A producer was also available at that time. He
told us that it was his desire to study at college but he was not able to do
so. So we all gathered at the Muttassi
maram of Maharajas college and thought
of a story. I had studied at Loyola and Stella Mary in Madras. It was only four years since I left
my college. I had many characters in my mind and by the time we parted from Maharajas College that day a story was born. I can
say that I remained in the film industry for a long time because of these
friends all recognition and achievement in my life only is because of these
people.
9 Lal Jose and Dennis joseph have said that Chamaram and
Athirathram had inspired them to do Classmates and Rajavinte Makan
respectively. What do you feel on hearing
this statements?
Naturally as a human being I feel happy. The credit goes to
the director and the team who made those films. Chamaram was one of the finest
Campus films in Indian cinema and the very life of College campus was exhibited
in this film. The acting was done by some of the students of the college.
Talking about Athirathram I should say I
took a challenge as I had never written such a script before. The story is
based on a real life character KS Abdullah a smuggler of Kasargode. Though I
knew him I went to Kasargode to get his full details. The Car chase and
Mammooty’s introduction scene in Athrathram are actually real life scenes of
K.S Abdullah.
10 Do you see new Malayalam films?
I do view Malayalam movies and also see preview of films
. Iam not very much interested in seeing
films in the city because of the hustle and bustle created at theatres. But I
do see films when I go out of Ernakulam.
11 How do you evaluate new Malayalam films with that of the
films of 80’s and 90’s? Tamil and Telugu films have borrowed stories fro
Malayalam films and they have become a great success. At the same time
Malayalam films are lagging behind now. Could you comment on this?
Outwardly this is a fact, but if we are to ask the
Tamil,Telugu and Hindi directors as to how their films had become box hits they
will reply that they have been inspired by viewing the Malayalam films of 80’s
and 90’s ie films of 30years ago. Our Malayalam films however remains stagnant.
We are still in the 80’s and 90’s and have not made any step forward to
progress.
12 Talking about the audience, do you think taste has
changed since films like Chattambinadu
and Rajamanikyam have been blockbusters
whereas Paleri manikyam and Kerala Café have failed ?
This situation can be termed as “Flirting with ugliness”. The
audience themselves are taking revenge on the films. If they are not getting
good films they satisfy themselves with what they get ie low class films. This is human psychology.
Talking about Paleri Manikyam I won’t say that it is an outstanding film and
Iam not satisfied with the castings of the film. The producer and director of
this film were not able to create an awareness of the launch of this film.
Iam also of the opinion that Mammotty is not
his actual self in Rajamanikyam. It is just an ordinary role, nothing
special. Mammotty as an artist is at his best when seen in his matured ,serious
,volcanic and dramatic roles. Mohanlal on the other hand strikes best in roles
where he can drown his most bitter and sad feelings and face cruel fate in a
cool and calm manner.
13 Associations were not
prevalent at a time when you were making films. But you are one of the
founders of associations in Malayalam film industry. Are these
organizations now a curse or blessing to
Malayalam film industry?
When we started this organization our main objective was
making good films and the welfare of technicians. But in course of time ego
clash has caused much harm to the organizations.
14 what do you say about the present day strike going on in
the industry?
I don’t know. Usually strikes are held when talks fail but
here no talks were held. One fine morning Producers come and say that they are not co-operating
with shooting of films. April and May are the peak months when
Malayalam industry gets much revenue but here they are promoting Tamil
and Hindi films instead.
15 You were once a freelance journalist. What do you think
about today’s present media?
As there is international ethics so also is their there that
journalists should abide to. For example in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination the
gory shots were taken and displayed in posters scattered all over the country.
In another case a temple worker who tried to rescue an insane person drowning
in the “Padmatheertha kulam” was instead drowned by latter .Shots of the scene
appeared in the papers. If the journalist had only tried to help the temple
worker instead of taking photographs, he could have saved the poor man.
16 How will you comment on the portrayal of the characters in
the film “Thirakatha”? Do you feel there is a similarity in the lives of the
lead roles played by Anoop Menon and Priyamani with that of Kamal Hasan and
yesteryear actor Sreevidya?
When I heard this news from media I asked Ranjith whether the
portrayal of the lives of the hero and heroine reflected anyone he just smiled
at me. You should understand that all these are techniques to market a film
well. Talking about Sreevidya, she was deeply in love with only one individual
and that happened to be director “Bharathan”.Sreevidya was in love with
Yesudas and Balachandran Chullikad and one should understand the truth that
this love was an outcome of the talents inborn in these individuals.
Sreevidya’s love could be seen in her beautiful eyes which added to her beauty.
She also adored and admired “Kamal Hasan” who had an exceptional talent in
dancing and acting. Ranjith who maintained a good relationship with Sreevidya
had noted the scene where Kamal Hasan visited Sreevidya at the hospital during
her last days. All other incidents in the film are purely directors creation.
17 What are the circumstances that made you a producer in MT
Vasudevan Nair’s script “Oru Cheru punchiri”?
At that time I had completed seven years as secretary Of
MACTA. I was in an awkward situatin as I didn’t have scripts with me to direct
a film. I was in a dilemma as my health refrained me from directing a film. Iam
even was under treatment and to tell you frankly I can’t stand for more than five minutes
continuously. It was at that time I decided to to produce a film and MT whom I
consider as my elder brother offered me a script. The result was “Oru
cherupunchiri”. Interestingly this film didn’t hit the silver screens as there
was a cold war
between television channels and film exhibitors. I didn’t gain
any profit from this project.
18 Are you comfortable as a teacher in the mass communication
schools?
Iam pretty comfortable with my profession as a teacher as my
students are my companions and we have a close relationship. They even confide
their problems in life with me . My classes mostly start with a film and end
with a discussion and I like to make it an interactive session. I have taken
classes in more than four Universities and taught about 300 students . The only
problem I have faced in this connection is with the authorities of
Communication schools. For eg we all know That Adoor Gopalakrishnan and MT
Vasudevan Nair are versatile scriptwriters in Indian Cinema. Is it mandatory
for them to be conferred with a PG degree for setting question papers in
direction for media students. ‘Yes’ is the answer given by the authorities in
our state. BSC is the basic degree required to apply for MSC Visual
Communication, this means that Literature and Journalism students are not
eligible for Visual Communication. Changes should be made so as to enable arts
students to apply for the MSC Visual communication course.
19 What can Malayalam film expect from John Paul in future?
I have no idea on this matter. I came to the film world
because of my passion for Cinema. Unlike the clerical job which is monotonous
the film world has much scope for artists. Many artist sit together in making a
good film and if a good story is made the outcome will be a success.
