7/31/2019 First Take Issue 42

1/1

8TEENTIMECHIPS@

GULF MADHYAMAM l No1 IN THE GULF

2012 APRIL 4 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 42

FIRST TAKE>Jyothi Varma

F

rom the tiny lens-view of an obscure eth-nic community wedged in the Kerala-Kar-nataka borders, he gave us the big picture

on a burning social issue.Film-maker K P Suveeran, whose debut film

Byari, bagged the award for the best featurefilm at the recent 59th National Awards, hasbrought out the angst and aspirations ofan ethnic community that speaks the Byarilanguage, which is a hybrid of Malayalam andTulu. In a rare coincidence, not only is this Su-veerans first film, it is also the first ever filmto be made in the Byari language.

Thanks to the film, there is now a newimpetus to add Byari to the Schedule of Indianlanguages and the establishment of a ByariSahithya Akademi.

When Suveeran took time off to speak tous last week, he virtually opened up a worldunknown and its strange practices and oddsub-culture. He admits that he never expected

Byari to be feted in the manner it has been.In fact, on a second viewing of his own film,the director felt that it was far from perfect.However, he was optimis-tic of the films chances ofcornering regional gloryat the Karnataka Statelevel awards.

Says Suveeran: Thefilm sought to highlightthe culture, tradition andlanguage of the Byaricommunity...and turn thespotlight on the stringentlaws and codes of mar-riage and divorce in theByari Muslim practice andtheir consequences onthe women.It was a painful situation there. The women

were unaware of a world beyond their narrowhorizon and were quite resigned to their plightas it was, he said. According to the director, alanguage is representative of a whole culture.The Byari language does not have alphabet;

The film sought to highlight theculture, tradition and language of theByari community...and turn the spot-light on the stringent laws and codesof marriage and divorce in the ByariMuslim practice and theirconsequences on the women.

Scriptingthe

unscriptedbut in its spoken form is

very close to Malayalam, Tulu andUrdu though. The word Byari is the shortened ver-sion of Vyaapaari which translates to trader. TheByari speaking community would have migrated toSouth Kannada centuries back from Kerala.

When asked how a Malayali ended up makinga film in another language, Suveeran says that inhis experience it was a case of the film coming insearch of him. The producer wanted him to do afilm and he turned his request down since he wasnot convinced with the initial story line but later

relented to the formers wish and agreed to visitthe place. I was shocked to see women across allage groups with a perplexed expression on theirfaces. The basic emotion of the fairer sex fromthe age of three upwards seemed to be one of anemotional struggle against the many hurdles intheir lives.The films focus is firmly on a group of peo-

ple who are spurned and sidelined by society. Infact, though the women in the community are putthrough an emotional wringer in their everydaylives, they also gain a stoicism and strength of willthat is usually hard to find in their counterparts incosmopolitan settings. The women not only bearthe burden of taking care of the family but alsohave to put up with atrocities of the spouse.

On his thoughts on the medium of cinema,Suveeran says that films have a language of theirownto the extent that even human beings arenot an absolute necessity. For him, film making isa mode of expression. Film making is a work ofart. My likes and dislikes as an artist reflect in myfilms.

If you plan to say something, back it up withvalidation, says Suveeran. He points out thatwhen scientists first had to prove that the Earthwas spherical, they had to back their hypothesis

with hard facts... so is the case with theexposition of an idea in a film.

Theatre is Suveerans first love though cin-ema offers him greater expanses of reach.

To the aspiring film makers he says: Havea close look at life before making films. Ifonly you have something to say, and feelthat it is you who need to say it, should yougo ahead. There is no point in

imitating someone else. Be original.n

Churchills titanic

d e f a u l tPresident of the Board of Trade,which was responsible for marinesafety. He was in the office whenthe Titanic was planned, designedand built. Yet he failed in his dutiesas the President to ensure that theship was properly constructed.

The author claims that Churchillwas fatally distracted from his

vitally important safety duties

owing to a combination of factors,which include his political ambi-tion, wounded pride and the pursuitof his future wife Clementine.I believe he bears a heavy bur-

den of responsibility for the deathsof 1,500 men, women and childrenwho perished, many needlessly, inthe icy Atlantic waters, the authoralleges.

After browsing through 100-year-old files in the National Archivesof Britain and the USA, Strangeaccuses Churchill of dereliction ofduty. Metaphorically speaking, [he]sank the Titanic, he says.

After hitting an iceberg on hermaiden voyage from Southamptonto New York, the ship sank in justtwo hours and 40 minutes. Life-boats had seats for only one-thirdof the passengers; the rest per-ished in the waters.

Churchills Board of Trade Safetyinspectors should have properly

checked up the number of safetyboats, and they also had to super-vise the ships construction. But

Churchill took his eye off the balland knowingly presided over aregulatory body not fit for purpose,the author pins down.

According to the book Church-ill was personally warned severaltimes that lifeboat regulations were

out of date. But he sat on thosewarnings letting the misadventureto take innocent lives. Studiesby Strange reveal that Churchillsdepartment was undermanned, ill-trained and badly managed.

But at the time Churchill waspreoccupied with financial wor-ries, upcoming election, and newlove, Clementine. By the time theTitanic was launched Churchill waspromoted to Home Secretary. Thushe escaped public examination ofhis role in the Titanic. Corroborat-ing this, earlier researchers foundweak steel plates and rivets as the

reasons for the rapid sinking of theship. So what does it mean? DidChurchill get away with it? If pasthappenings are any indication, youcan soon expect a new book givinghim a clean chit.

n

V K Sreelesh

Once again here is the samestuffwho-sank-the-Titan-ic? But with a little differ-

ence; unlike the previous story,which found the ships captain asthe culprit, the latest has netteda big fish as responsible for thewreck. Of course, the iceberg isstill there in the background.

At the hundredth anniver-sary of ships mishap, it seemsthere are more stories thanwhat we know remain hiddenfrom public. Only a few weeksago a blitzkrieg headline hit theworld. We too ran the stuff. Thatblamed the captains drunkendriving as the reason. Becausea lady on board, who lost her

brother, claimed she had seenthe captain as having alcohol.The captain is not alive to eitherstand in the dock or answer herallegations. But this time rounda big fish is being targeted. Heis the man who people vote overand again as the greatest BritoneverWinston Churchill.

A new book, Who Sank theTitanic? puts a major chunk ofresponsibility on Britains greatand controversial statesman

but how? Authored by RobertStrange, investigative journalistand former crime reporter, thebook finds that this war-timePrime Minister had a previouslyunrecognised role in the disasterin 1912.

At that time he was the

TIME OUT

remember this story ?