Among young, budding scenarists in Malayam cinema, Syam Pushkaran is something of a hero—the guy who brought ‘Everyman’ centre stage. Mahesh of Maheshinte Pratikaram, for instance, could be any one of us with our daily heartbreaks and small victories. Maheshinte... also got Syam his first National Award, for best original screen play. As Kumbalangi Nights hits the marquee today, it rides curiosity and expectation in equal measure.
He has co-written the scripts of most of his films, starting with his first Salt N’ Pepper, up until Mayanadhi, only Maheshinte..., and now Kumbalangi Nights, are his solo writing projects. Expectations from Kumbalangi... are high, however, he is more curious than pressured about the “outcome”. He wants to know “how people will respond; while I was writing the script I felt it to be a social experiment. How would the audience react? Which way will the people’s moral compass turn? I am very curious!”
Kumbalangi Nights harks back to a time in Syam’s past, to his twenties and to a friendship from then with “Saji Napoleon. In our twenties, we used to head to Kumbalangi, to Saji’s place, in the evening, after spending the day in Ernakulam. We’d spend the night by the backwaters. He had a kettu (a fish farm) from where we would catch fish, cook it and eat. Backwaters are best seen at night, and the nights are beautiful in Kumbalangi.” This story strings the nights in Kumbalangi.
In his films, the most recent being, Mayanadhi, the location assumes a life, becoming a character in the story. Mayanadhi showed us a different Kochi, as did Maheshinte... which showed us an Idukki or Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (of which he was creative director) which showed us Kasaragod.
“In Thazhvaram, the topography is very important, it contributes to the narrative. Like that, in all good cinema the attempt is to give the place/location/nature a life. That is what I also try to do.” Rather than move outwards, he believes, regional cinema has the luxury of finding such spaces locally, a literal looking inward.
Isolated places, such as Kumbalangi, and their people are often the butt of jokes, literature too often perpetuates the stereotype. “Urban society perceives these places as not having progressed. My story tells the positives of life there. The people there are progressive, it is a re-look at perceptions.” That said, he adds that the film is not so much an in-depth look at the island’s culture as it is about the story of people who live there.
Telling the story of four brothers, writing four different tracks wasn’t easy either. “I don’t have brothers, but I have always wanted to make a film about brothers, and their bond. This was multi track —four brothers, four tracks —initially I was thrilled. I, later, realised how tough it was telling the story of four lives, their dynamics and also making people understand it. But it has all worked out.”
The scripting took five-six years, as he was working on other films simultaneously. Over time, as he grew and evolved, the script did too. It crystallised in this form last year, the casting had been more or less finalised around two years ago. The film stars Soubin Shahir, Shane Nigam, Sreenath Bhasi, Fahadh Faasil among others, a line-up that raises expectations a notch. Syam, incidentally, has also produced the film with Fahadh Faasil, Nazriya Nazim and Dileesh Pothan.
“It is a great thing that we have been able to make a film with this group of actors. The film has some great performances, the actors have all done a great job including the newcomers—Anna Ben and Grace!”
Madhu C Narayanan, who has worked as associate with Aashiq Abu and Dileesh Pothan, makes his debut as director, “I have put a heavy load on Madhu, it would have been for any newcomer but he has done a very good job.”
Creative Collaboration
Syam makes a case for co-writing. Most of his films are the result of collaborations with other writers such as Dileesh Nair, Abhilash S Kumar, Gopan Chithambaran, Muneer Ali and Ravishankar. Calling himself lucky to have written with others, he says, “I have always had good co-writers and their style has been good for my work. I believe films are an applied art, when you have inputs from everybody involved the film comes out well.”