Malayalam cinema has never seen so many women behind the cameras before this. Unni K. Warrier, Vinod Nair and N. Jayachandran write about the women who broke the glass ceiling in showbiz. For Malayalam cinema, 2014 was a watershed year when Kerala saw the emergence of a woman into the league of super hit directors. Bangalore Days, written and directed by Anjali Menon, raked in more than Rs 50 crore from the box office. The movie stood out with its novel theme, warm portrayal of relations and youthful energy.
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Anjali Menon is not the first women director in Malayalam. From Vijaya Nirmala to Preethi Panikkar, we had women helming films in all ages. Vijaya Nirmala was the first woman director in Malayalam. The Telugu actor who essayed the female lead in ‘Bhargavi Nilayam’ later directed Kavita, produced by Samgamam Pictures in 1973.
Anjali Menon, however, was the first hit maker.
If Anjali Menon was noted by the commercial success of her films, Geetu Mohandas marked her presence with two critically acclaimed movies. Her Liar’s Dice received two national awards in 2014. Her debut, a Malayalam short film titled Kelkunnundo, was also noted.
Producers are now willing to work with woman directors in mainstream cinema. Two more woman directors have found projects in Malayalam. While Sreebala K. Menon marked her entry with Love 24X7, Preethu Panikkar broke stereotypes with Thilothama. It was Journalist Rajasree Balram who wrote the script for V.K. Prakash’s Rock Star.
“We have always followed the trend from the north. Women have been active in directing and script writing in Hindi and Tamil before the trend caught on in Kerala,” said Sreebala K. Menon. “If you wanted to make a movie, you had to go to Chennai. This was not something the girls could do. Then movie making shifted to Kerala. The sector became more open. This has helped more and more women enter the field,” she added.
These women are demolishing the myth that women’s role in cinema is limited to the charm of pretty actors. Bina Paul broke the glass ceiling when she edited John Abraham’s Amma Ariyan in 1986. Anjali Shukla received the national award for best cinematographer in 2009 for her work in Shaji N Karun’s Kutti Srank.
Sameera Sanish, one of the busiest costume designers in Malayalam cinema, works on almost 15 movies a year. The skirt in Salt n’ Pepper, the shawl in Thattathin Marayathu, the cotton sari in How Old Are You? and the kurta in Charlie owe their fame to the 32-year-old designer.
Jayasree Lakshmi Narayanan created wonders in Lal Jose’s NeeNa and Martin Prakkatt’s Charlie. The art director made Charlie’s bohemian room into a character in the movie. Her brief was to create a room that would arouse the curiosity of a visitor.
Women are putting their stamp in production too. Friday Films, which has launched many a career in Malayalam cinema, is helmed by Sandra Thomas along with Vijay Babu.
‘Roles don’t change’
The emergence of women behind the scenes has not changed much in terms of characters, says actor Sajitha Madhathil. “Women don’t have anything more to do in cinema beyond their position in civil society. We see a lot of women who make a change in society and challenge the established norms. But we do not see any of them in our movies. Most filmmakers do not bother to create a female role other than the hapless mother, sister or friend.
Sreebala says women in the industry find it easier now. “It was not easy to convince parents and relatives if you wanted to be a filmmaker. That is one reason why women were not active in any section of cinema other than acting. Now they can make short films and showcase them when they approach directors for a chance to associate in moviemaking. More and more girls are doing so,” she said.
She said there is no gender difference when it comes to pitch a story line to the producer or the actors.
Manju Warrier proves her right. In her second coming, the actor commands a price almost equal to her male counterparts, establishing that lead actresses have as much selling prowess as their male counterparts when it comes to market a movie to television channels looking for satellite rights. Lead actresses now get up to Rs 50 lakh for a project, a far cry from the days when women were offered a meagre Rs 5 lakh while heroes took home over Rs 1 crore.
Shepherding a movie
Super hit director Anjali Menon thinks of herself as a shepherd. She just follows her actors and technicians, quietly prodding them in the direction she points to.
She had invited Dulquer Salmaan, Nivin Pauly and Nazriya Nazim to her house in Kochi before the shooting of Bangalore Days was started. They talked in length, bonding over a straw mat spread on the floor. That camaraderie was reflected in the movie. Fahadh Faasil was kept away deliberately because his character kept a distance to the other leads.
Fahadh had also been told to keep a distance from Nazriya for the sake of the characters. He obeyed it during the shooting though the pair went on to marry each other in real life.
She says she had to strike a balance between work and life when she wrote the movie. “I would get up at 4 in the morning and write until 8 when my son gets up. I would resume writing from 2 to 4 in the afternoon when he goes for his siesta.
“Many people commented that the movie had more scenes set at night. I wondered, that is when I wrote the script.”