“All theatre artistes travel to stage their plays. But what do they get out of the trip? Why do they forsake all for theatre? What does the stage give them?” asks theatre activist Hazim Amiravila, in a post on Facebook.

Ee Bhoomeente Peru, a documentary by Vinesh Vishwanath, tries to provide answers to these queries. A nearly 31-minute documentary, Ee Bhoomeente Peru goes behind the scenes to take viewers into the intense world of theatre even as it highlights the amount of collaboration it takes to make magic happen at each performance. The documentary zooms in on artistes from city-based Kanal Samskarika Vedi as they travel to Dibrugarh, Assam for Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM).

Kanal Samskarika Vedi’s Veendum Bhagavante Maranam, one of the three plays from Kerala to be selected for (BRM) last year, has been setting the stage alight with its hard-hitting take against superstition, fascism and attempts to silence protests against curbs on freedom of expression. An adaptation of a short story by KR Meera, Veendum Bhagavante Maranam depicts the problems that arise when a theatre group tries to dramatise Meera’s story to protest against the assassination of a well-known author. The metaplay also portrays the intellectual differences between the actors and the inner politics within the troupe.

The artistes of Kanal Samskarika Vedhi during their journey to Dibrugarh   | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The opening shot of Ee Bhoomeente Peru begins with 30 actors of Kanal preparing backstage for their play at BRM. Narrated in a non-linear manner, the film then jumps to Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station where family and friends see off the artistes as they embark on their journey to Dibrugarh, 4,169 km by rail, from Thiruvananthapuram.

For filmmaker Vinesh, it was a new experience as he was not a theatre person and had often thought that the stage was a stepping stone to cinema for many. “It was not until I started assisting Kanal as a technician and an artiste that I realised theatre is so much more; an independent art form in itself. The Kanal artistes come from all walks of life. They had to be away from their family, work and other commitments for 13 days for the staging of the play at Dibrugarh. It made me wonder why they do it. What I got out of the journey, and my experiences with the troupe are some of the highlights of the documentary.”

According to Vinesh, who has directed short films such as Chaos Theory, Karu and Tomorrowland, he had initially planned to shoot a short film with the Kanal artistes during the period of their stay in Assam. “However, I felt shouting out ‘cut’ and ‘action’ during the trip would spoil the fun for the whole group, so I dropped the idea.”

It was the day before their journey to Dibrugarh that the thought of a docu-journey popped up. “Reshma, one of the actors of Veendum Bhagavante Maranam, held her wedding reception on January 31, 2019. We were set to leave for Assam on February 1. It was during the reception that Kannan Nayar chettan, another theatre artiste, suggested shooting a narrative of the journey. As it was an impromptu decision, there was no scripting or planning involved.”

Hazim Amaravila and Vinesh Vishwanath   | Photo Credit: Liza George

Vinesh, along with his friend, Anand Manmadhan, started the shoot of Ee Bhoomeente Peru right from Reshma’s wedding reception.

Vinesh chuckles as he says: “Although we were two cinematographers at the start, by the end of the trip, there were many. I had requested the members of the group to shoot what they could on their mobile phones and everyone obliged. While some captured scenes in Dibrugarh, others caught the bonhomie during the train journey or narrated what they observed and more.”

Vinesh had to put the editing work for Ee Bhoomeente Peru on hold for over a year, as he worked as assistant director for Prasobh Vijayan’s Anweshanam. The editor of Ee Bhoomeente Peru, Kailash S Bhavan, had four-and-a-half hours of footage after the initial edit. “It was tough trimming it down to the length it is now,” says Vinesh.

For Hazim, the director of Veendum Bhagavante Maranam, staging plays can be frustrating as each show is essentially “written on sand. What’s staged once is gone forever as that exact performance will never happen twice. It’s what makes theatre unique. There is very little appreciation for theatre and acting itself, even amongst people who are culturally aware.”

Theatre, according to Hazim, is team effort. “Even if a play is rehearsed innumerable times, the artistes, after sensing the pulse of the audience, tend to tweak it to garner their attention. The artistes on stage need to be in sync with the others because when one artiste changes the words or gestures on stage, the other artiste needs to pick up the cue and respond accordingly. There needs to be a strong bond of camaraderie between artistes if we need to stage a play successfully. We were fortunate that Vinesh captured on camera our journey and our performance at BRM so that the fun and the memories stay fresh,” Hazim says.

Vinesh who dons the role of a cop in Veendum Bhagavante Maranam, says the name for the documentary was inspired by ‘Ee Bhoomeente Peru Aanu Nadakam’, a song Kannan rendered on an impulse at BRM at the end of the play. “The audience did not understand the lyrics but were clapping to the beat of the song. The audience’s applause and appreciation get us going. It was nice to represent our State at a prestigious platform such as the BRM,” says Hazim.

Ee Bhoomeente Peru, will be staged at Ganesham, Thycaud, the venue in which the play made its debut in 2018, on February 7, 6.45 pm. The programme is open to the public.