Renowned actor Anant Mahadevan was at Biffes to promote the film Evening Shadows. Directed by Srinath Rangayan, the film has Anant playing the gay protagonist’s father. The man, who has donned many hats – journalist, film critic, actor, director, scriptwriter, also possesses a great sense of humour. The interview was loaded with one-liners, most taking a dig at the film industry.
He talks to Metroplus about Evening Shadows and his idea of what cinema is.
Excerpts:
Tell us about the film
It is a concept that is not often attempted in Indian cinemas. It is not something we want to talk about, more so in the South Indian fraternity, where, forget being gay, even watching movies listening to the radio and talking to girls was forbidden for me. I come from a Tam-bram family. So in such set ups, forget romantic liasons, you can’t even think of befriending girls. Attempting a film like this is interesting as I saw a lot of my father in the role I portrayed -- including the way I sit on a chair. The portrayal was so military like. I just played my father in the film – how he would see and explore the same situations within himself. It was not a routine script here, but something that was addressing life itself.
How did you become an actor when you faced so many restrictions?
That is the irony of life. When you keep something pent up within you for years, one day it breaks out in a volcanic eruption. I started with plays in schools. I was 11 plays old when I finished my schooling. I was quietly absorbing everything about acting through those plays. Somewhere I tried to find my way to theatre, which was the easiest way to discover yourself. I started with Prithvi Theatre from where Sai Paranjpe picked me up for TV. It was a gradual process – from theatre, TV to films. Somewhere down the line, I realised my hobby had become my profession. There comes a time when your family disowns you for the black sheep you are and not the research scientist they expected you to be. Yet, here I am and have not done badly.
What about being termed a character artiste?
This question is relevant only in India. Abroad you have Robert De Nero playing a 70-year-old or Marlon Brando playing a small role in ApocalypseNow or Superman. For them, it is a part and an art. No role is too big or small for them. Unfortunately, we have categorised roles into – hero, heroine, supporting actors, villains, comedians. It is something as bad as our films. We have to put up with it as we are within this system and swim with sharks. But if you can find your calling, your level and your challenges, then somewhere you end up quietly doing something that satisfies you.
How does a platform like Biffes encourage filmmakers?
Festivals are important. There are pros and cons of course. There may be certain films that people will not pay to watch, but they will come here and catch the film. Fests, on that count, do create an awareness and a good preview and pre-publicity audience. The media also writes about a particular film and generates the right kind of curiosity amongst the readers. Without festivals, people like us, independent filmmakers would find it difficult to make it to mainstream and succumb to the multiplex rot that has set in. Even the tickets are unaffordable. Ticket rates and general illiteracy among the audience leaves them wanting more of a circus than entertainment. It is something that drives people away from pure cinema.
How do you rate Indian cinema on the international platform?
The kind of cinema they make, in Iran for instance, are far better than the films we make here. We make the worst cinema and let us admit it. This is a fight to make films that make the world sit up and notice and not scoff at our cinema. Frankly, when I go with my cinema abroad, they come with the notion that it is another Bollywood film. But when they watch it, they are surprised. That is when we tell them that there is a tribe that is trying to make films that will make it sound like global cinema. The fight is on and it is not going to be easy as there are no supporters.
The audience seem to love such films...
They have to be the first to choose what they want to see. Paying and watching a bad film is good as voting for a bad leader.
Anant the journalist, film critique, writer, director..., which role is the closest to you?
As a journalist and film critic , I actually taught myself cinema as I watched a lot of world cinema. I am a product of the film society movement, where I got to see masterpieces from all over the world. Then I realised that the language of cinema is something very different from what we see here. We aren’t even speaking the alphabets, forget sentences. Films that they make are wonderful. The concept, portrayal and subjects dealt with in Iranian films of the 50s are a class apart. You feel far behind when you see that. The fight is not just to make great cinema but make it seen by people too. Journalism helped me learn that.
As an actor, I watched great directors at work – Sai Paranjpye, MS Sathyu, Yash Chopra – and then graduated into direction and knew what the language and technique of cinema was, what should be done or shouldn’t. It was a growing process. I am still a student and will not rest till I make India proud.