Casting- Round 1

Once the script was done and the seed funding was in place - the priority was CASTING. We started with the most difficult part - the children... we had to find two boys and two girls (ages 5-12).

Tried many routes - advertised in newspapers, worked through agents, talked to kids in the neighbourhood, asked filmmakers for references, went to children's workshops... the works. I must have poured over hundreds of snaps and profiles - and the lesson I learnt was precious: the children of today are so different from the children we were...

It was important for us to find children who still had that innocence and "that sense of wonder". Uncorrupted by adults or adulthood or the wise world around them.

After a great deal of shortlisting the first round of meetings was scheduled in Thiruvananthapuram. For this round we had invited children with some acting experience - most of them had done some kind of television work. I thought this would help them cope better with our schedules and work pattern.

But I was in for a shock.

My journal for that date reads thus ...
"I'm speechless. Almost every girl who walked in the door was caked in inches of makeup...  And almost each boy tried to impress by mimicking Suresh Gopi or the CM -Achuthanandan!

Add over-enthusiastic parents to this equation and ROUND 1 = Tragic!"

:-(

Answers to those questions...

"How can I watch this film?"

"Is it coming to the theatres?"

"When will it release?"

These are three questions that are sent most often to my inbox! 

So for all those people - here is the answer :

Manjadikuru / Lucky Red Seeds has only been screened at film festivals so far. 

(fortunately to some wonderful responses! :-))

The film has recently gone through a change in the Producers, so right now we are preparing the full release version for you with more scenes, fresh sound design, more songs and tracks... eagerly getting it ready to share it with you!!!  :-)

Time to smile again!

It has been a while since the last post... that folk tale has been truly metaphoric of the journey this film has taken since. During this time I had many moments of hopelessness where it didn't seem like there was light at the end of this tunnel. But there IS plenty light :-) and so let's do what someone smart suggested -

"drop those gaps into the silent limbo of the past...
let it go, for it was imperfect, and Thank God it can go!"

Back to the beginnings with our smiles once again... Last night Lucky Red Seeds was awarded the 'Certificate of Appreciation' at the Schlingel Film Festival in Germany :-)

a tale to tell from Guruvayur

Manjadikuru/Lucky Red Seeds are found in Krishna temples in Kerala. In fact nowadays, that is the only place we see them. The origin of this practice lies in the folklore of the Guruvayur temple. The temple of Guruvayur houses the deity of Vishnu*, and this particular idol is believed to have been worshipped by Lord Krishna** in Dwaraka. The first time I set eyes on Manjadikuru is in this temple.

The story goes thus… a long time ago, there lived a woman in a northern province of Kerala. She was an ardent devotee of Krishna and aspired to someday visit the temple in Guruvayur. She wanted to carry offerings to the temple as most people did but she was too poor to be able to afford anything. But she knew of an old tree that shed beautiful glossy red seeds. Fascinated by their beauty she began to collect them, hoping to one day carry them with her to the temple as a gift to the Lord. One by one she would pick them from the ground, treating each one like a precious gem. Polishing them and keeping them safe from the rain and the dust. In her eyes each of them glowed with warmth and radiance. She eagerly awaited the day when the Lord would see them. Others laughed at her and called her mad to pick the worthless seeds but she continued to do what she believed in.

Over a year the collection was built up and she had a large pouch full of Manjadikuru. Her eyes filled with glee as she held them close to her while she slept at night. Making up her mind to take them to the temple, she set out on a journey. Leaving the safety of her home and her loved ones, she set out on foot towards the temple. Her home was in a hilly province and she had to traverse rivers and deep forests as she moved towards her destination. She met people on the way. Some of them discouraged her. Some of them applauded her. But she didn’t care. Her mind was set on the temple and its deity and with single-minded focus she trudged on. Many people told her “this is not the way” but she followed her instinct and a force within her guided her ahead.

Every morning she would wake up with stiff joints, through the day her body would ache and at night she would collapse on the wayside in a tired stupor. In her mind she was aware that she may never be able to do this again in her life but in her eyes was a dream and on her lips was a smile. Forty four daunting days later, she arrives in the temple city of Guruvayur. Unfamiliar and tired she stumbles through the streets, forcing her body to make the last mile too.

Finally she arrives at the temple portals. She hears people talk amongst themselves about the special day at the temple. Apparently the day was the first of that month and the local ruler or Naduvaazhi would visit the temple on the first of every month. To display his devotion, he would submit an elephant every month as an offering to Krishna. Hearing these tales, the woman carefully makes her way to the inner precincts with her pouch.

The officers of the Naaduvazhi are clearing people from the path to make way for the ruler. In their powerdrunk arrogance and pettiness, they are unable to distinguish between wayfarers and devotees. Mercilessly they insult devotees and trample on children to get them out of their way. The woman tries to balance her pouch of Manjadikuru so that she doesn’t lose them but the officers insult and mock her and physically shove her out of the area. The trumpeting of the Naaduvazhi’s elephant is heard. With a last push from the insolent officers, the woman falls down and the pouch falls open and all the red seeds get scattered all over. A tear from the woman's eye fall on the temple floor.

Immediately the Naaduvazhi’s elephant goes beserk and starts to run amok in the temple. People run for their lives as the mad elephant starts to destroy things within the temple. Unable to control the elephant, the Naaduvazhi prays to Krishna for a solution. A voice is heard from within the temple - “where is my Manjadikuru?” "where is my devotee, who you have insulted and hurt?” "where is my gift that she lovingly put together?”

Realizing their folly, the people apologize to the woman and start to gather the red seeds that are scattered all over. Filling her pouch for her, she is escorted to the sanctum sanctorum with her lucky red seeds. After her submission of the offering, the elephant returns to normal. In memory of that devotee’s offering, even to this day, a big uruli full of Manjadikuru are kept within the temple.




*Vishnu is part of the primary Hindu trinity godhead
** Krishna is considered an avatar/birth of Vishnu

Why make films?

Somewhere in between cajoling an actor, changing the dialogue, choosing a costume, reading a legal document, signing a cheque, calming the fraying temper, finding the right lens, waiting for the right light, running from the rain, cutting out a scene - we were making a movie. What is it that makes us want to rise at 4.59am, reach the location at 6am and work like bonded labour till 10pm only to return the next day where every possible variable would have changed and yet we aim to find that continuity to everything as the day before and the day before that?

Surely there is a streak of masochism in everyone who willingly works on a film set. "Willingly" is a strange word- it can also mean some one who would rather not do something else. Which is actually the case with most people. The phenomenon seems to be alive whether one is a spot boy, an propmaster, a boom swinger or a director.

They tell me that the feature film is the most peculiar of addictions, though I am still in limbo about this. "Despite it all, you want to do it again". Maybe once my joints cease to ache and my voice comes back to its normal tone and I stop dreaming of that one scene I forgot to shoot, I'll ponder on it.

The film is shot...

Plenty has happened since my last post on the blog and I am not too sure about where I should begin... like a line in my script i guess i can say that there were plenty stories as we made this film but finally like old roots they have all merged and meshed together and become one. The film is shot and we're weaving it together now in postproduction.

Lucky red seeds meant something to me before this journey began but I know that more people have gotten entangled in that magical web. Most importantly four children who stepped into our small raft and held on tight right through the whole ride. These were the stars of our film. Our dearest Vicky, Kannan, Roja & Manikutty. Their real names are Sidharth, Rijosh, Vyjayanthi and Aarti but they chose to forget that during our two months together.

We stepped into our main location Kunnathveedu to discover that there were no Manjadikuru trees there but that will no longer be true... as our Assistant Art Director Prasad pointed out- "in five years time, there will be Manjadikuru trees all over this 9 acre plot!". Reason being that we has a six year old heroine carry pocketfuls of them with her everyday to shoot. She'd return to us only to say that she wanted more because her pockets were now empty. She probably doesnt know the good that she has done, as those seeds grow their own roots.

the new family - our crew

Today is the day before Onam. On any other year, today would be filled with the excitement of the festival, the homecoming of the family, the flower patterns and of course the onakodee- the new dresses or sarees gifted. But this Onam, I am swept away in a totally different direction... its an excitement mixed with nervous energy and plenty of optimism as we head closer to the making of this film.

Our new family comprising of the crew of Lucky Red Seeds has temporarily disbanded to join their real families for the festival. As one of the ADs joked, "we are here because we are 'extras' in our families". Yes I know the feeling- you feel slightly mad in comparison to others around you. They may never know the feeling when one puts together the right face to the right character or the perfect location to the script setting. Its a weird passion that links us together. A weird passion for self torture to make a movie that is different, special and will touch someone somewhere for a moment or two.

Our crew so far is an interesting mix of people- we have people who are from different parts of Kerala, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkota, Europe and some like me who are still figuring out where they belong. More the merrier they say- which is true but there are also work styles, culture issues, gender roles and many other factors that come to play at this kind of work. And the interesting part is forging a way together through all of this. Slowly but steadily - we're getting there. I have to say that each person on our crew does seem very motivated and passionate about what they believe in. That's a great place to start!

So on this Onam, my special wishes go out to these special individuals who are bringing this film together. Thank you for being part of it. Wish you a very happy Onam!

Manjadi memories

How many folks out there have grown up outside India and remember going back on holiday to our tiny hometowns? The annual vacation which would be marked clearly on those Indian calendars hanging on foreign walls. Weeks in advance the shopping would be done- a gift for the second cousin, sweets for the nephews, medicinal oils and balms for the older uncles, a scent spray for the new couple. And finally the day would come to set out for the home shores.

I was a Gulf kid and our vacations were always during the Middle eastern summers which wonderfully coincided with the monsoon showers of Kerala, India. There are a thousand things I remember about those times. Today I have moved back to India and am a filmmaker making my first feature film soon. The film “Manjadikuru” is about those very impressions. Like the lucky red seeds - they will remain little nuggets of memory that throb every time one smells wet earth or sees a touch-me-not flower or hears “Manjil virinja poove…”- a hit song from early 80s.

This blog was for those memories, those special things that have stuck in our heads but have disappeared from everywhere else. But now it has become about the memories of making this film...