It is theme that matters

I DON'T think there is an equivalent to the Merchant Ivory Films here in India - a production company totally devoted to bringing literature to the screen. There was a time when all good cinema was also good literature. Today's Indian cinema is all dance and hardly any talk, forget literature.

Even that talk is totally predictable. How often are we on the brink and guess right when `Kan kol kar sunlo' is about to be said in every Hindi film? But then one can never mention literature and Hindi cinema in the same breath. Kannada cinema is going the Hindi way and failing badly because whatever they do, they cannot match what seems a limitless opulence of the Hindi cinema.

Telugu and Tamil apparently do seem to have the wherewithal but they also end up making the same mess as Hindi. However, Tamil is slightly better because of a constant attempt at thematic distinction from film to film.

It wasn't always like this. Kannada films' golden era was the 70s, when almost every other Kannada film was based on a published work.

There is an established reading population which means one has a pre-sold market. It is only a question of matching the budget to the market which is what was being done in the 70s. One remembers Cecil B. Demille's reaction to questions about his highly successful Biblical films.

``How can I lose 2000 years of free publicity?'' That is why no film based on Mahabharatha or Ramayana has ever really failed.Fortunately, there are two regions where a link between literature and cinema still exists.

Almost every year a Sharat Chandra classic is turned into a film in West Bengal - often several times. What is even more striking is that in Kerala even yesterday's news story becomes tomorrow's film.

Bringing literature into cinema admittedly means a lot of effort. Shorn of all the glitzy things that go into cinema what ultimately sells a film is its theme. At the moment all the inputs are in the form of materials namely, stars, sets, locations, dance sequences and music.

The accent on inputs has to shift to idea power. Take a walk in a cinema street either in Ernakulam or Thiruvananthapuram. Sample the commercial cinema fare. One is a songless drama. One is a musical. One is a satire on politics. Though there are pot boilers, it is variety that sells, succeeds.

Why not emulate Kerala?

M. BHAKTAVATSALA

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