55.Time to Invigorate

During the  Pooja  holidays (22 to 24 October  2015),  I attended a Film Appreciation Workshop jointly organized by the Chalachitra Academy, Kerala and the CineMass Film Society. The  slightly high registration fee, and the restricted seats ensured that only  those seriously interested in films  could attend. The invited Resource Persons for handling the sessions included
 Mr.KB Venu (Film Director),
 Mr. Vijayakrishnan (Director and Film critic), 
Mr. Louis Mathew  (faculty, Prasad Film Academy) 
and 
 Mr. I.Shanmughadas (Film critic). 
  Film screening  and discussions  were  also part of the Workshop.

At the time of  self-introduction of participants,  I noticed that  a majority  comprised college students, and   those pursuing research in films.  Some had ambitions of producing  short films  while  a couple of them were keen on animation and direction.    When one of the Resource Persons  asked  the participants  to choose one film which  they would prefer to take with them if they are  incarcerated, many choose  the Malayalam  films  of  Priyadarsan.  True, those films are  visually pleasing and  of course humourous… But can serious film buffs  choose such films?

A day after the Workshop,  the  reputed Polish film director, Krzysztof  Zansussi   addressed  film lovers in Trivandrum city.  And  the  next day  the following  news  item appeared in the Mathrubhoomi Daily  dated 26  October 2015. 

The director  observed that  the standard of film criticism has come down!

This observation did not come as a surprise to me because during the Workshop, when one of the  Resource Persons  posed the question  “What is the climax of  the  Malayalam film ‘Kireedom’”,...

...the majority comprising college students reeled off: … the  scene in which,  Sethumadhavan (Mohanlal), squashes to pulp  the goon, Keerikadan!

Almost 95% of the participants  held this view. So it took the Resource Person,  Mr. Louis, quite some time to convince the  participants that the  real climax is the  scene in which   Achuthan Nair (Thilakan) asks his son  Sethu (Mohanlal) to drop the knife!

Perhaps  you all are  aware that the  count down has  begun for the 20^th International Film festival of Kerala, IFFK.

 

I hope  college going students in Kerala  who are  lovers of  good films will make a  diligent effort to invigorate their skill of  appreciation  by watching  acclaimed films during IFFK!

Please feel free to offer your comments…

CP