Date:20/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/20/stories/2004122005830600.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

He attracts crowd in Chennai too

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, DEC.19. When he agreed to screen his film at the festival, Adoor Gopalakrishnan was only hoping that very few people would turn up. Reason: The much-acclaimed filmmaker is planning to release his Malayalam-Tamil bilingual `Nizhal Kuthu' (Shadow Kill) in the city.

But the hall was packed to the brim on Sunday, when the film played at the second Chennai International Film Festival.

Day three of the festival started ahead of schedule, with Adoor Gopalakrishnan introducing his film. "The title is borrowed from the Mahabharatha ... where the Pandavas were sought to be killed by sorcery," he said.

In one episode, Duryodhana hires a sorcerer to kill the Pandavas. The sorcery creates five images of the opponent, kills the images one by one, and finally the original falls dead. The indirect killing is called `Shadow Kill.'

"The film is about perceptions and experience from everyday encounters. We develop a concern by developing empathy for people. It is perceived that executioners are people who have no love. The perception of reality can be very wrong. The effort is to make you live the experience," the director said.

The film, like his earlier works, takes its time to let the tale unfold. "The film is constructed in a way that you get the full picture only at the end of the film and not as you watch it. Once you've seen it, it will work on you," he explained.

Veteran actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan plays the hangman who is summoned by the Maharaja of Travancore in the 1940s, Sukumari plays his wife and the cast includes Reeja, Tara Kalyan, Sunil, Murali, Sivakumar, Jagathy Sreekumar, Nedumudi Venu, Vijayaraghavan and Indrans. The film written, directed and produced by Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

The film was received with a thunderous applause and generated discussion on capital punishment and the plight of hangmen. For film students, it was education from the master himself.

With NFDC's `Five by Four' directed by Roopa Swaminathan and Bala's `Pithamagan' also lined up for today, it was a tough choice for movie buffs to choose what to watch.

"I cannot believe I'm sharing the day with Bala and Adoor, people I respect so much," said debutant director Roopa, now away in Pune, completely surprised when she found out that her film was being screened at the festival. "I'm glad that this can create awareness for my low-budget film. It's a whole new world of cinema for me. I've tried to do a contemporary English film without the clichés associated with India, with five women in the lead and also experimented with structure ... I hope people like it," she said over telephone.