Fallen Leaves - Chapter 6
Adam Ayub
The time spent awaiting the results was well spent. I became more active in youth activities. I was elected the President of the Rotaract Club of Cochin (West). I even wrote an article in English for the in-house magazine of Rotary Club. It was well received in the Rotary circles. Once there was a combined meeting of Rotary, Inner-wheel, Rotaract and Interact clubs at the Casino hotel, Wellington Island. I was assigned the task of getting a guest speaker for the meeting. I invited the Principal of Maharaja’s College. The Principal knew me only as a lackadaisical guy who was never serious about anything. But he agreed to come since it was a Rotary Club meeting. The meeting was conducted with perfect decorum. I was to introduce the guest speaker. I spoke highly of the Principal, attributing virtues to him which he did not know he ever had. He was very pleased. He reciprocated with equal warmth in his speech. He showered praises on me for my leadership qualities. It was my day. I had made a good impression at the meeting. That year, I was selected along with S.A.Saleem, the secretary of the club, to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards seminar at Vellore.
When the results came, I had passed my BA with good marks. Akbar passed his engineering and joined the Mazagon docks in Bombay as a Marine Engineer trainee. I had to find a job immediately to support my family. Though I made half-hearted attempts to get a job, my heart was in films. During this period, I saw the admission notification of the SIFCC Institute of Film Acting, Madras. It was an Institute initiated by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce. They were offering a two year integrated course with emphasis on acting. I was not interested in acting. My interest was in direction. But I did not have the wherewithal to join an institute and study direction. I wanted to join as a senior director’s assistant. So, once again, I approached Mr.Hussain Sait who had earlier introduced me to cameraman, U.Rajagopal. He said Kalalaya Films was not producing any films at that point in time. His contacts in the film industry were not very strong. Instead he suggested it would be better if I joined the new institute run by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce. Since all the producers, distributors and studio owners were members of the chamber; it would not be difficult to get a good break after passing out. Though our financial condition was bad, my father agreed to send me to the film institute.
There were only a couple of days left for the last date of submission of applications. I sent the draft, got the application form, filled it up and sent it back as quickly as I could. I received their response soon enough, asking me to attend the interview at Madras. There were about fifty candidates for the interview, including a few girls. There were candidates from all the four South Indian states. Some of the boys from Andhra were tall, fair and well built. Most of them came from very rich family backgrounds.
Some of them were sons of Film producers and studio owners. The interview was spread over two days. On the first day, we were asked to perform whatever we liked. Malayalam Actor Madhu was one of the interview board members. Then they gave us a scene and asked us to perform. On the basis of the performance, a selection was made. The selected candidates were asked to report for screen test at the next day. A few candidates were eliminated in the first round. I was among the fortunate ones who were selected.
We were given a piece of dialogue to practice for the screen test. I was given Sathyan’s dialogue from a successful Malayalam film. I had rented a room near the railway station (not in the same lodge where we had earlier stayed during our college excursion). I went to my room and practiced. The next day, we were taken to a film studio at Kodambakkam. Our performance was shot on 35 mm film. Apart from the dialogue they had given us, we were asked to enact a scene of our own. I performed a piece from the drama I had performed during the anniversary celebrations of the Memon Youth Forum. We were told that, after seeing the results of the screen test, selected candidates would be informed by post. I returned home the same evening. After about two weeks, I got the letter from the Institute, stating that I have been selected to join the Institute! It was truly an exhilarating moment of triumph and happiness for me. I felt I had succeeded in climbing onto the first rung of my ladder to fame and fortune, and I had done it on my own!
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