'Sense and sensibility'

KANDUKONDAIN KANDUKONDAIN (Tamil-English): Script by Rajiv Menon; Westland Book Pvt. Ltd., 62-A, Ormes Road, Kilpauk, Chennai- 600010. Rs. 295.

THE SCREENPLAY and dialogue of a film coming in a book form is not new. Way back Jayakanthan's screenplay took that shape. A couple of film-makers have taken the cue and have brought out in book form the scripts of their films.

The script of the National Film Development Corporation's recent film ``Karuvelam Pookal'' has also followed suit. Another film which comes to one's mind is Kamal Haasan's ``Hey Ram''.

But in the case of the present film, for the first time a Tamil film script has been translated into English and published in book form. ``Kandukondain Kandukondain'' was a much expected movie before its release as it had in its cast many talented artistes like Mammooty, Ajit, Iswariya Rai, Tabu and Abbas.

The story is about two sisters, their joys and sorrows. Their life is told in a beautiful manner with moving scenes and dialogues penned by writer Sujatha. The dialogues are the mainstay of the film though one can understand the story without them but if they knew the lines it will be easier to follow the film and also the feelings of the characters.

The book under review has been brought out elegantly with colour photos from the film album.

One is happy to note that a Tamil film's screenplay is published in English, but at the same time, the charm of Tamil is somehow lost in the process. There are mistakes in the first para of the first page, which could have been avoided. The director of the film, Rajeev Menon, has said in the preface that he started adapting Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (whose script has also come in book form) and that he wrote the dialogues in English and Sujatha translated them into Tamil.

The book also contains the complete cast and lyrics of all songs - the songs are written in English as they are sung in Tamil (Kandukondain Kandukondain) and also its translated version in English (I have found it! I have found it!).

S. R. ASHOK KUMAR

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