Kanchana Sita
Kanchana Sita | |
---|---|
K. Ravindran Nair | |
Starring | Ramdas Venkateswarlu Chinna Pulliah Kesava Panicker Krishnan Pottiah Rangiah Siva Sobha Kiran Annapurna |
Cinematography | Shaji N. Karun |
Edited by | Ramesan |
Music by | Rajeev Taranath[1] |
Production company | General Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes Malayalam |
Kanchana Sita (Golden Sita) (
The film interprets a story from the Uttara Kanda of the
The film was produced by K. Ravindran Nair under the banner of General Pictures. The film features an original score by classical musician
Plot
The film begins with the journey of
The next day,
Bharata, a brother of Rama who had left Ayodhya twelve years ago, returns. He objects to Rama performing the yaga without Sita. Their argument almost culminates in a physical fight, but nature intervenes; the skies open and a cooling rain pours down upon them.
The yaga begins, with Lakshmana accompanying the horse. The horse strays into Valmiki's ashram (hermitage), where Rama's son Lava and Kusha are being brought up. Lava stops the horse and is ready to fight Lakshmana (as the yaga demands). Lakshmana orders that the horse be released, but once again nature takes a hand. Valmiki is strangely moved by what he sees, and he begins to compose the Uttara Rama Charita – the story of Rama.
The horse is led back to Ayodhya, and the ritualistic second stage of the yaga starts. Just then Rama receives the news that Shambuka has resumed his penance, and Lakshmana is despatched to slay the erring shudra. As the ceremony nears completion, Valmiki arrives with Lava and Kusha, but Vasishta debars Valmiki from entering the yagashala. Rama recognises Lava and Kusha as his sons, and takes them to his heart. The joy of Sita, then, is represented in the glorious splendour of nature.
Dénouement
The film ends with an epilogue depicting Rama's last journey, the Mahaprasthana, as he walks into the river with fire in his hand and becomes one with Sita, the all-pervading nature.[3] When asked whether Rama was really committing suicide, Aravindan replied, "Yes... in all probability. That is what I think. However, his death in Sarayu river is not like any other kind of death. It was a Mahaprasthanam – an event of supreme self-sacrifice and purification, leaving everything behind. Everyone dear to him had gone. He had parted from Lakshmana. He was troubled by many guilt feelings – the murder of Shambuka, the unfairness meted out to Sita... Towards the end of the film, this mood prevails – Rama walks into the Sarayu river with the sacrificial fire, bearing everything, including his loneliness, calling out for Sita ... and disappears into the depths of the waters, carrying the sacrificial fire with him into the river is not in Ramayana – it is an interpretation. Somehow the part I liked most in the film is this end."[4]
Cast
- Ramdas as Rama
- Venkateswarlu as Lakshmana
- Chinna Pulliah as Bharata
- Sobha Kiran as Urmila
- Kesava Panicker as Valmiki
- Krishnan as Vasishta
- Pottiah as Lava
- Rangiah as Kusha
- Siva as Shambuka
- Annapurna as Shambuka's wife
Themes and analysis
The
Significance of the title
The title alludes to the golden image of Sita that Rama sets by his side while he performs the Ashvamedha yaga. The yaga, a symbol of imperial power, requires that the king who performs it be accompanied by his wife. Since Rama had abandoned Sita twelve years earlier, the kulaguru (family preceptor), Vasishta, advises that he place a golden image of Sita at his side.[10]
Differences between the play and Ramayana
Malayalam playwright C. N. Sreekantan Nair wrote his magnum opus play Kanchana Sita in 1961. He took the inspiration for this play from the Uttara Kanda (kāṇḍa: chapter) of Ramayana. Uttara Kanda is the seventh and last book of Ramayana. It concerns the final years of Rama, Sita, and Rama's brothers,[citation needed] and is regarded to be a later addition to Valmiki's original story.[citation needed] The play is the first of Sreekantan Nair's dramatic trilogy based on the Ramayana. The others are Saketham and Lankalakshmi. A reworking of Ramayana, the play is about the tragedy of power and the sacrifices demanded by adherence to dharma, including abandoning a chaste wife.[11][12]
Kanchana Sita was developed by Aravindan, based on the play. The screenplay and dialogues of the film were written by Aravindan himself. The film is conceived differently from both Nair's play and the original Uttara Kanda of Ramayana. If the Uttara Kanda's critique of sovereign power is buried in the karmic webs of Rama's life, Nair's play carries a sharply materialistic edge in its critique of Kshatriya-Brahminical power.[8] In contrast with both, Aravindan's thematic content is much more directly focused on Rama's inner conflict between moksha (the desire for enlightenment) and artha (the desire for sovereign power).[8] Sita does not appear in the film at all, but is depicted as prakriti, or all-pervading nature, and the different moods of Sita are shown as different aspects of nature.[13] Nair rewrote the final section of Valmiki's Ramayana as a critique of brahminical privilege and political repression.[5] Using Nair's play only a starting point, Aravindan transformed the script according to his interpretation of Indian philosophy and his minimalist aesthetic. He replaced Nair's crisply-articulated exchanges of dialogue with a cinematic meditation on Rama's separation from, and eventual union with Sita, thus carrying the concept of Sita as Prakriti to its visual limit.[5]
Dialogues
The play's main feature is its very eloquent, long, and authoritative dialogues, whereas the film is almost silent. Aravindan explains: "There are some specific reasons for deciding to have sparse dialogues in Kanchana Sita. One, this episode taken from Ramayana is familiar to all. Two, Ramayana is not a supernatural reality for us, as it is ingrained in us. It is therefore not necessary to educate people about the film through lengthy dialogues. C. N. [Sreekantan Nair] had made clear the prakriti-purusha notion in Ramayana. I did not think that Sita should come in the film in the form of a woman. That is why Sita appeared in the film as prakriti and Prakriti is a character in the film. When the emotions of Sita like pain, sadness, joy, and equanimity are manifested through the moods of Prakriti, dialogue becomes redundant. I felt I could make the film without dialogue. Rama committing suicide – (I still feel it was – self immolation) had haunted me very badly. With all these, my Kanchana Sita became very different. Words were required only for very essentials. The dialogues, which I used, were from C. N. [Sreekantan Nair]'s play. The doubt I had then was whether my Rama and Lakshmana (as they were ordinary people) could use such an eloquent Sanskritised language."[4][14] In another interview, he said, "Dialogues are there to carry on the storyline and make it move. But when it comes to well-known stories, dialogues ceases to be an essential ingredient." Dialogue was, however, included in Kanchana Sita at the end of the movie to discuss the responsibilities of the king.[15]
Characterisation
The film significantly differs from all other adaptations of Ramayana in the characterisation of the central characters, including Rama and Lakshmana. The characters are humanised, contrary to the way divine characters from Indian mythology are usually depicted in visual media.[16] Rama has a pot belly, while Lakshmana has pockmarks on his face. In an interview, Aravindan stated, "Our sculptures are large in size and exude strength and vitality, which is absent in murals. The Rama of Kanchana Sita exudes the strength and vitality of our sculptures. He is not just a plain frontal image. The wandering tribals we encounter here and there with their medicines also share this quality. I enquired and found that these people are settled in villages near the Godavari River. Apart from this they also believe that they belong to the same race. That is why I cast two of them in my film."[4]
Similarly, Aravindan deliberately did not give a superhuman quality to Rama and Lakshmana. Only when they interact with Nature do they rise to the levels of God and go beyond the ordinary. In Aravindan's own words, "otherwise they would have been the same as anybody else." Diametrically opposed to this, Valmiki is given an appropriate form and beauty.[4]
Production
The film was produced by K. Ravindran Nair, who produced some of the most significant films that put Malayalam cinema on the world map. His productions also include memorable films of Aravindan, such as Thampu (1978), Kummatty (1979), Esthappan (1980), and Pokkuveyil (1981).[17]
Casting
"Unfortunately a controversy arose because I had cast tribals. They have classical features and are marvellous actors. Yet I was accused of blasphemy."[18]
- G. Aravindan's response to the controversies created due to the casting of tribals in the roles of the epic heroes.
In Kanchana Sita, the roles of the epic heroes like are played by
Filming
The film was shot in colour in less than three weeks during November and December 1976, entirely in Andhra Pradesh, partly on the banks of the
Filming took place at the time when
The film was completed using simple devices such as table fans to rustle the leaves.[4] A few unexpected things happened for the good while shooting the climax scene. For instance, a rare and unexpected early morning mist on the banks of Godavari made the whole scene ethereal.[4]
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics,
The National Film Award for Best Direction was given to Aravindan for "the film's courageous and uncompromising exploration of an ancient epic theme through a pronouncedly new cinematic language, for making the camera speak more eloquently than the introspective characters of the Ramayana, for projecting against the vast backdrop of nature, for matching profound philosophical ideas with astonishing evocations of the beauties of the physical world".[3]
References
Footnotes
- ^ Garimella Subramaniam (29 July 2005). "Eclecticism at its best". The Hindu. India. Archived from the original on 1 December 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- Kerala State Chalachithra Academy. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ a b Directorate of Film Festivals 1977 25th National Film Awards, p.?
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jayaram 1992, pp.26–28
- ^ a b c Zacharias 2008, p.99
- ^ Sharma 1997, pp.155–157
- ^ Sharma 1997, pp.149–168
- ^ a b c d e f Zacharias 2008, p.100-101
- ^ "Interview: G. Aravindan on Kanchana Sita". Cinemaofmalayalam.net. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ Mathew 1977 Rama Re-filmed, p.?
- ^ K. Venkiteswaran (21 August 2005). "Retelling the Ramayana". The Hindu. India. Archived from the original on 11 August 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ Sreekantan Nair & Joseph 2005
- ^ "Kanchana Sita ( A feature film in Malayalam, with English sub-titles) Synopsis". High Commission of India. 12 November 1997. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ Akademi 1998, p.38
- ^ Dhawan 1992, p.61
- ^ Kutty 2005 Aravindan remembered, p.35
- ^ a b C. S. Venkiteswaran (19 June 2009). "The alchemist of cinema". The Hindu. India. Archived from the original on 23 June 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ Khalid Mohamed (16 March 1991). "Aravindan, film-maker of poetic vision, dead" (PDF). The Times of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ a b Kumar 2010, p.?
- ^ Mathew 1977 Filmography: Kanchana Sita, p.?
- ^ Dharap 1978, p.90
- ^ "കാവാലം നാരായണപ്പണിക്കരുടെ സഹോദരൻ" [Obituary: Kavalam Narayana Panicker's brother]. Malayala Manorama (in Malayalam). Kottayam, India. 12 May 2013. p. 10.
- ^ a b Kavita Nagpal (31 December 1978). "A Film Maker Pitches His Tent". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ a b Zacharias 2008, p.103
- ^ Ammu Mathew. Rani Burra (ed.). "Rama Re-filmed". Indian Cinema. Directorate of Film Festivals.
- ^ a b Zacharias 2008, p.102
- ^ "I need cinema to live". The Hindu. India. 24 March 2006. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ Venu 2004, p.8
- ^ a b Vidyarthy Chatterjee (22 November 2008). "Silence of Frames: Re-visiting Thampu". The Economic Times. India. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ "G. Aravindan's profile". India Film Database. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ Britannica 2003, p.395
- ^ Zacharias 2008, p.104
- ^ Zacharias 2008, p.106
- ^ Thoraval 2000 Kanchana Sita: The Equation of Woman with Nature, p.402
Bibliography
- Zacharias, Usha (2008). "Union with Nature: Prakriti and sovereignty in Aravindan's Kanchana Sita". In Paula Richman (ed.). Ramayana Stories in Modern South India: An Anthology. Bloomington: ISBN 978-0-253-34988-0.
- Jayaram, S. B. (1992). Aravindan and His Films. Trivandrum: Chalachitra. pp. 1–36. OCLC 33983644.
- ISBN 0-19-566623-2.
- Dhawan, Madhu (1992). Bhashantaran Kala ek Parichaye. Vani Prakashan.
- OCLC 4602396.
- Sundararajan, K.R. (1989). "The Ideal of Perfect Life : The Ramayana". In Krishna Sivaraman, Bithika Mukerji (ed.). Hindu Spirituality: Vedas through Vedanta. New York: Crossroad Publishing. pp. 106–126. ISBN 978-0-8245-0755-8.
- Sharma, C. (1997). A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 155–157. ISBN 81-208-0365-5.
- Dharap, B. V. (1978). Indian Films. OCLC 1790604.
- The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: ISBN 0-85229-961-3.
- Thoraval, Yves (2000). The Cinemas of India. Delhi: Macmillan India. p. 402. ISBN 0-333-93410-5.
- Mathew, Ammu (1977). Rani Burra (ed.). Indian Cinema 1977–78. Directorate of Film Festivals.
- "25th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 1977. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- Kumar, Sashi (2–15 January 2010). "Aravindan's art". Frontline.
- Kutty, K. V. Raman (March 2005). "Aravindan remembered" (PDF). Kerala Calling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- Siddhinathananda, Swami. "The Role of the Ramayana in Indian Cultural Lore". Vedanta Kesari.
- Venu, K. B. (2004). "The Palette of Nature" (PDF). Images. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
External links
- Kanchana Sita at IMDb
- Kanchana Sita at the Malayalam Movie Database