southern cinema sweeps the national awards this year, and how! Karthik Pasupulate and Sridevi Sreedhar report.
It was a case of hit and run, at the 55th National Awards. For southern cinema that is. Malayalam cinema lived up to the tag of the most creative film industry in the country bagging five awards.
Tamil cinema emerged a close second winning four while Kannada actress Uma Maheshwari was adjudged the best actress for her performance in Gulabi Talkies.
Be it the best feature film, best director, best actor, best actress, best music, best animation film, best special effects, best editing and best make up artist... the south Indian films swept them all, overcoming stiff competition from Bollywood.
sRK starrer chak de india and Aamir Khan's taare zameen par were popular contenders for the best feature film award but Kanchivaram was in a league of its own. The film won critical acclaim in all the 14 international film festivals it has been screened at so far. Priyadarshan and his crew received a standing ovation when the film was screened at the Toronto film festival.
Set amidst the lives of the community of silk weavers of Kanchivaram in the 1920s the film is a touching tale of a weaver who takes to communism only to find himself caught between personal needs and the pursuit of social equality. Prakash Raj was simply brilliant as the protagonist Vengadam, who is unable to buy a silk sari for his daughter. the irony of the weavers who make silk saris all their lives not being able to afford the same saris for themselves forms the crux of Kanchivaram.
Master filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan was adjudged the best director for Naalu pennunga. The film is based on Jnanapith award-winner Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's four short stories. This is his ninth national award and fifth in the best director category.
Music director ouseppachan won the National Award for his musical score in shyamaprasad's Ore Kadal. pattanam Rasheed was given the award for best make-up for his work in paradesi. B Ajit won the best editing award for his work in Naalu Pennungal. shyamaprasad's ore Kadal was awarded the best regional film.
Chennai-based special effects company, indian Artists, which worked on Rajinikanth's look in sivaji took home the prize for Best Special Effects.
the animation studio, Mayabimbham won the Best Animated Film award for India's first 3D-animated movie inime nangathan.
Best Feature film Kanchivaram (tamil) director priyadarshan Best Animation Film inimey naangathaan (tamil) Director S Venky Baboo Best director naalu Pennungal (malayalam) Adoor Gopalakrishnan Best Actor Kanchivaram (tamil) prakash Raj Best Actress Gulabi talkies (Kannada) umashree Best editing naalu Pennungal (malayalam) - B Ajith Kumar Best make-up Artist - Paradesi (malayalam) pattnam Rasheed Best Music ore Kadal (malayalam) ouseppachan Best Special Effects sivaji (tamil) indian Artists, chennai Best Regional film ore Kadal (malayalam)
i knew Kanchivaram would work after seeing the response we got at the festival circuits like toronto, where the audiences gave it a standing ovation. Actually, when I finished the script, my close friend, Mohan Lal was supposed to do the film, but he had scheduling issues. Then I zeroed in on Prakash Raj, who I think is a fantastic actor and his dialogue delivery in Tamil gave him the edge over Mohanlal. Prakash took Kanchivaram to a different level, was totally committed and did the film without taking any remuneration. After seeing the first copy together, I told him that he will get a national award for it! - Priyadarshan "I am very happy and consider this award as a recognition for a new attempt in indian cinema.
Naalu Pennungal has four different stories made as one film."
- adoor Gopalakrishnan "I owe this award to Adoor sir, who made it possible".
- b ajit "It was not easy to do make up for a period film like paradesi in which the hero has four different looks, including that of a 70-year old man.
But i have to thank Mohanlal who encouraged me and made the character come alive on screen."
- Pattanam rasheed "I never expected this award. so when i came to know about it, I was shocked! i consider this as a very big honour and thank my producer Vindyan who introduced me to director shyamaprasad for Ore Kadal.
the songs in the film were different from my usual style and shyam reinvented my talents as a music director."
- ouseppachan "This is my hat trick national award for the best regional film. I am very happy that the film got noticed."
- shyamaprasad
I owe it all to one man, Priyadarshan, without him, Kanchivaram would not have been possible.
i'm on top of the world since i heard the news. The film was very close to my heart. When he first narrated the story, I fell in love with it. i was willing to give any number of dates to Priyan after reading the complete script. the character of Vengatam is a life time role. i've got a national award in the supporting role category four times and the big one proved to be elusive till i got it now for Kanchivaram. it will adorn an important place in my show case, as it is the most prestigious award i have ever received. How much of this do you attribute to luck?
there have been many controversies in the media that Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Mohanlal and Sathyaraj were strong contenders for the national award for best actor. i have the highest respect for all of them and loved their films. But it was my lucky day! How did you prepare for the role?
Priyadarshan had written the script many years back and was thinking of doing it with Mohanlal, but somehow it did not work out. When he approached me and narrated the script, I told him that I'll cancel all my other commitments and do the film. As far as the character goes, I just did what Priyan asked me to do, but did some basic background study about the character, the weaver community and the setting up of co-operatives in Kanchivaram.
Tell us about your future projects.
I would definitely do more realistic films in future. Vengatam the master weaver is the most intense and powerful character i have ever played. i am passionate about good cinema and i'm proud to have produced films like mozhi and abhiyum naanum and will continue to produce meaningful films. At the same time my forte is commercial cinema, where I will continue to do villain roles (laughs).
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