The
departure of Bhaskaran Mash marks the end
of an era in Malayalam cinema. In the early
days of Malayalam cinema, it was filmmakers
like Bhaskaran who gave a fresh life and flesh
to it through their charming films. Films
like Neelakuyil (1954) Rarichan Enna Pouran
(1956) Adyakirananagal (1964) Iruttinte Atmavu
(1967) and Kallichellamma (1969) etc brought
the land and life of the emerging nation of
Kerala into the secular space of the celluloid
medium. For instance, a film like Neelakuyil
is rare in Indian cinema for making a stark
portrayal of the deep ambivalence inherent
in the modernist project – here you
have the emblematic figure of progress, rationalism
and modernity, a school teacher (played by
Sathyan, in his first major appearance) in
a villainous role. This harbinger of enlightenment
of the times, in the film, impregnates a dalit
woman and then betrays her leaving her to
a miserable death. This figure and the milieu
in Neelakuyil poignantly presents the deep
conflicts that animated Kerala's modernization
project - one which was torn between a modernity
that was not adequately socialized, and a
sociality that was not adequately modernized.
Films like Rarichan enna Pouran take this
question further, frontalising the adolescent
figure of Rarichan to tell the disturbing
story of the new citizen in a nation-in-the-making.
It is this deep
and critical sensitivity that marks filmmakers
like P Bhaskaran distinct from the sloganeers
and polemicists of the period. Through his
works, he brought to the surface the angst
of his society and more importantly, also
the joys of romance and the lyricism of
hope . His lyrics illuminate a whole inscape
of yearning, hope, love and despair of that
generation.
I have always wondered why
this very socially insightful filmmaker
of the first decades of his career spanning
from the mid-50's to the early 70's suddenly
turn to films like Arakkallan Mukkalkallan
(71) Srimad Bhagavad Gita (76) Jagadguru
Sankaracharyar (77) and Guruvayur Mahatmyam
(80) etc in the next phase of his career?
Once I posed this question to Bhaskaran
mash himself. He gave that typical half
smile of his and asked me back:"would
you pose such a question to a lecturer,
a clerk, a banker or an engineer? I did
them because that was my job, that was part
of the profession I was in". But retrospectively,
one feels that apart from professional exigencies,
there were other reasons too. In the euphoria
of modernism in literature and the new wave
in cinema, and the turmoil of politics (the
Emergency and the Naxalite movement, irrevocably
redefining the interface between the state
and liberatory politics ), filmmakers and
writers like Bhaskaran mash were relegated
to the past. There was no place for them
in those celebrations of the 'aesthetics
of the moment'. It must have been this amnesia
of celebration that drove Mash to take refuge
in films and endeavours like that.
What is often forgotten
in the obituaries is the fact that apart
from being a great filmmaker, lyricist and
poet, he was also the founding chairman
of the first television channel in private
sector Asianet Television!
But a true artist
that he was, his works will be remembered
and treasured by the future generations,
for they were true to their times and dreams
.
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