The script and other stories...

Arvind Ashok Kumar was the first crew member- official designation - Director's Assistant. Originally from Kerala, Arvind is a trueblue Mumbaiite. Today he works in the Art & Design department of mainstream Hindi films. Back then he was First time assistant to a first time feature director! Sheer madness :-) Here's his take on how we started off:

"Would want to term it as a virgin start, of this journey of me and a full length feature film. "There is a lot of paper work to do, why don't come and start with it" says the Director. Mind wanders in every direction to get a justification as to why and what for paper work in film-making?! The mention of paper work seemed very official and dry. It was the ever lasting excitement that convinced me and my wandering mind. But today I am self assured that if nothing I can surely handle a administration vacancy. From the very next day I handled, preserved, hid end number of papers, not to miss out, of different sizes, colours, qualities etc... And eventually it were these papers that introduced me to the Lucky Red Seeds. 

The introduction was as informal as with the director. The papers were the references, the pictures, the lists and lists of minute details of scene by scene. They introduced me to the story ahead that I was to live in. These papers were my only companions in the square room with a window facing the sea whenever I was alone there. As I write this let me be frank in admitting that from last few minutes have been trying to stress my memory to get to the day I read the script fully and I am not able to. That is when I realise that it just sunk into me unknowingly. 

Whether it is the dining table, the car, the super market, script kept scrolling through Anjali's mind. She would suddenly take you to a scene and describe it and ask for your opinion. And that is it - at first I used to feel all jittery. What should be the answer, will it be right or wrong? Am I the right person to answer this? Those were the baby steps I took to the style of working that I admire the most and miss too. We were virtually living with - Vicky, Roja, Manikutty, Kannan - the characters of the film. I could say we would eat, drink and sleep with them. It kept lingering in my mind as to why do you need to write so many drafts to get to the final. When I get into the square room in the morning and if Anjali was already there then surely one of the characters was there in the room too. Their personalities were building up and we were making friends with them individually. Anjali had a great connect with Vicky. It is today when I write this I realise that this characterisation had started influencing the scenes and their outcomes. Probably now I understand better what Anjali was doing by making us live with the characters. And it were these encounters that eventually answered my question of why so many drafts to get to the best... Going through this prep period and then being there for the production and later the post just opened my eyes in awe of the outcome! 

[ Script - I surely still can't recollect the day and time I read the script in full but can feel the connect I had with it for the first time. The smell, the colours, the house, the green, the people, the attitudes I still can't part with from the script. It just transferred me to my childhood vacations I had in the small beautiful innocent village in Andathode, Kerala. As rightly said all those who could connect then with the Manjadi then still stand tall and united for the Lucky Red Seeds.]

As I pen my first few encounters, I am already looking forward to the next leg of encounters which has left impressions as deep as influencing my career choice."

early days

FINALLY... after much cajoling and threatening the crew posts have started to trickle in... we're a motley crew- from several different places- making a film together. Here's our 2nd AD - Arun Varma- doodling his thoughts together...

"Working in my previous film left me like a patient with some incurable ailment. There were positives and negative. The positive points were that I learnt a lot, about work business and also gave me a revelation or a surety that I can survive or do anything if I put my mind to it. There is absolutely no meaning for the word IMPOSSIBLE.

On the other hand unbearable pressure and too many responsibilities, with not a single soul to share, left me with lot of scars still taking its slow pace to heal. Some of them to such an extent that I even began to get scared of the ring tone that I so dearly selected and played. I couldn’t believe that work could make some go real crazy. I changed that tone, but that’s a famous tone and it always sent shock waves down my nerves when it cries out loud in the public from some other phones. Chennai- my city pleased me no more. I decided to take a break. Once the preview was done I vanished from the place without telling anyone.

I reached Kerala with no deadlines in mind. I spent almost a month in the ponds, drinking toddy, seeing people, going place, fishing, hunting, trekking, long drives, bike treks, and what not. It was a rejuvenating experience. If my memory’s right it was during those happy days that my Mentor- Major Ravi called me and told about a new film called Manjadikuru (Little Red Seeds).

By the way, I am Arun Varma- Assistant to Major Ravi. Joined Major in his first independent project Kirti Chakra after Graduation in Visual Communication from Loyola College, Chennai. He is my teacher and guide.

Major said that the director is a lady named Anjali Menon. She doing a new venture and it is technically different from the normal films. It is shot using 16mm and with spot recording. I was excited on hearing this. I decided to work in the project as I wanted to learn.

Once I reached the place I was told about this blog by Anjali Menon. I read the blog and this is what came in my mind. I have more ‘Manjadikkuru Tales’ to tell…some real and some fictional… but that is based on the response I get for this one. If my team mates leave me alive I’ll continue. Anjali has also asked me to write about my experience while working in Manjadikuru. I also hope to cover that in the “Manjadikuru Tales Series”.

Nostalgia… that is the only word that appears once you read the script of “Manjadikuru”.

Little Red Seeds which is considered very lucky- that’s the meaning of Manjadikuru (Munch-adikuru). My first rendezvous with on such lucky seed was when I fell down after chasing my cousin through the lush green paddy fields of Vadakkancherry- my grandpa’s place. Though I fell flat on my chest, and the fall hurt me a lot, I never cried. I must have been 8 then. Instead of crying, I had my attention on a small red stone (as I thought then) which I spotted few inches away from my nose on the ground. It looked like something very different, very unique unlike other stones. I took the stone, made myself comfortable on that path and began examining it. It had a very distinct shape, a very distinct size and a very distinct colour. It took my memory to those stones that people wore on their ring. Precious as my mom would call it. At that instant I knew that I was not holding a simple stone. Yes! This is it! A perfect combination! Forgetting all about the fall, the bruise on my knee, the dust on my chest, I exclaimed with joy… “I found a Precious Stone”. My cousins who came back searching for me laughed on seeing the way I was, “As comfortable as a chicken” on the ground. I instantly hid my precious discovery in my trouser pocket. I never told them anything about this new discovery of mine.

I was thinking of what I could do with this precious stone. I showed it to my younger brother. He was very much fascinated with the stone that he wanted it. He had a toy plane which I liked very much. But he never gave it to me. I decided to sell the stone to my younger brother as an exchange for the plane. Initially he was hesitant, but finally he agreed for the deal. That was a happy day for me. What more could a boy of 8 ask for after the discovery of a precious stone and a decent business deal with his own bother. Fair enough.

Next day I decided to walk back the path and see if could make more precious discoveries. And yes I found one. Great! I marked the soft toy pup- Ricky, as a deal for this stone. I found two more. I’ll get to see his collection box and his toy camera. I kept walking ahead and I found more and more. My list of ‘things to buy’ increased. Dad’s still camera, dad’s hero pen, dad’s watch, grandpa’s snuff box, grandpa’s goggles, grandpa’s house… the list in my mind grew bigger till I finally reached a spot where I found lot more of stones on the floor and my brother sitting right beside it counting. The list in my mind simply crumpled like a mud castle in a wave. The seeds from hand dropped and my brother looked up. He smiled at me sarcastically. He showed me the stone and said that it was not a stone, but a seed. I was surprised. How can a seed look so perfect and beautiful? His other little friends supported his argument and showed me the place where it came from. Finally I was convinced and I had to sadly return the toy plane. I never knew about the seed because I came down to Kerala only for my vacation.

Munchadikuru stories never end here. I have more. But Sujatha(the 1st AD) is shouting and I have to go. The next time when I steal some time from my work, I’ll write the next one."