Satish Babusenan and Santhosh BabusenanChaayam Poosiya Veedu (The Painted House) was the talking point after it was banned by the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) last year.
The CBFC had demanded the axing of an instance of female nudity from the movie and the directors decided to take the censor board to court as the particular scene was relevant for the movie.
And yes, they won.
The makers of the movie -- Santosh Babusenan and Satish Babusenan – are all set to take their next movie Ottayaal Patha (The Narrow Path) to 18th Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) and 38th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). MAMI begins today.
Ottayaal Paatha directed by Babusenan brothers is the only Indian movie selected to the competition section of the CIFF to be held in Cairo from November 15 to 24.
A still from 'Ottayaal Paatha'The film will be screened at this year's MAMI Mumbai film festival, which kicks off today.
This season, MAMI will have only one Malayalam movie and that's Ottayaal Paatha selected from a list of 170 films.
K.Kaladharan, Sarath Sabha and Krishnapriya play the lead characters in the film.
Ottayaal Paatha is a story about a crippled father and son who lives in the slum and the two share a difficult relationship. The son decides to run away to another city without informing his father, things doesn't turn out the way he had planned it.
Ottayal Paatha is a story about a crippled father and sonThe unexpected events that follows forms the core of the movie, according to directors. The movie starts one morning and ends by day break the next.
Satish and Santosh Babusenan started their career as cinematographers and producers shooting music, corporate and short films.
In 2015 they made their first feature Chaayam Poosiya Veedu and locked horns with CBFC.
Also read: 'Chaayam Poosiya Veedu' movie review - Angels and demons
“We couldn't showcase the movie at the Indian Panorama as we ran into trouble with CBFC and they had asked us to cut off the nude scene which was important for the story,” they said.
A still from 'Chaayam Poosiya Veedu'It hit them financially and mentally.
“We couldn't make a public release of the movie as we were denied the censor certificate”.
But Santosh and Satish Babusenan were not ready to leave the matter there.
“We decided that we would not cut off the scenes and that we ought to stand up for a filmmaker's right to express himself exactly the way he or she wishes,” said Satish Babusenan.
“We were debutantes and all around us, big filmmakers were cutting up their films, albeit under protest. We knew that it was time someone stood up to the censor board and said 'No'! We decided to be that someone,” added Santosh Babusenan.
They fought till the court rubbished the board's arguments and directed it to give permission to the movie with an 'A' certificate that too without any cuts.
And now, the brothers are set to wow the audience at Cairo and Mumbai with Ottayaal Paatha.
The films by Santosh and Satish are fundamentally about human predicamentOttayaal Paatha deals with the issue of opening up to oneself. It is about how confronting inner secrets of the self liberates people from the grip of self-centeredness.
The films by Santosh and Satish are fundamentally about human predicament.
“The thoughts, environment, struggles, sorrows and happiness make us what we are. Although these are universal concerns, we feel that they take on a distinctive hue in the Indian context. As filmmakers working in India, our concern is with the internal and external worlds that make up life in India.”
The brothers have clarity of thought on their vision of filmmaking – they wish to make films “which look at cinema as art and not as a medium for entertainment”.
“There are other filmmakers who do movies for entertainment and that’s fine with us. We believe there is a place for all things in this world. It is a question of personal choice; to each his own,” they said.
For these directors, most answers to life’s puzzles are only conjectures. As two men who find the inward journey worth every step, the directors intend to continue telling stories which grow out of these conjectures.
Both Santosh and Satish Babusenan are trying to break 'the narrow path' and weave in stories for those who cherish the art of film-making.
