"Scion of Ikshvaku" (A Book Review)

It is not easy to fictionalise Ramayana. Not that there are not enough versions or variations  already. The same Valmiki Ramayana has been represented in different tones by the writers in South India. So, Amish Tripathi’s fictionalised novel on Ramayana raised sky-high expectations. Here is an author who put mythology on steroids in the Shiva trilogy and became one of the biggest  sensations in the history of Indian Books publishing. Difficult to believe how every major publisher rejected his first book “The Immortals of Meluha” before Westland took the plunge. The Shiva series has since sold over 2.5 million copies. Naturally, the publisher and the author went for an unprecedented print run of 6.5 lakh copies - this beats the record of Chetan Bhagat who’s last book “Half a Girl Friend” had a print run of 4-5 lakh copies. To stoke demand for the new series on Ram Chandra, a cryptic announcement was made by the author at Jaipur Literary Festival this year and a month later, the publishers announced the launch date of the first book in the new series as June 22nd. Amish Tripathi mentions the series on Ram may have five books overall. 

How Good is the book? Amish makes a decent attempt at pumping up adrenalin through the otherwise sober character of Lord Ram but the output falls short on expectations and misses major opportunities to build up muscular narrative and tension typical of Amish. The story opens with Ram and Lakshman’s hunt for the elusive deer that ensnared Sita in the forest of Chitrakoot and then flashbacks the part of Ramayana that begins with Ram’s birth and ends with Swayamvar. Of course, the flashback ends at the moment when Ram and Lakshman find a wounded Jatayu signalling the chopper  carrying off Sita to Lanka. A pretty simple retelling, you thought. No, Amish builds a palpable drama that is part fiction and part re-imagined interpretation of the events and economic conditions of the time, circa 3400 BCE in India. Without revealing much, Amish builds an energetic pace in the first 150 pages giving a detailed overview of the kingdoms of Ayodhya, Mithila and Lanka. He gives a rich re-interpretation of what drove kingdoms to become satellites and what made satellite kingdoms depend on powerful allies, builds plot points across the first four Kandas (starting with Bala Kanda and ending with Aranya Kanda), twists many characters including Dasharath, Manthara, Kaikeyi, Bharat, Shatrughan and even Ravan but more or less keeps the principal characters of Ram, Lakshman and Sita with reverential authenticity. 

What elevates the book is the degree of detail and imagination into an era that is mostly shown as cardboard cutouts in films. What happens when arrows are shot at animals? (Someone has to bring it back and clean it and put it back in the quiver) What was Ram Rajya like? (It had as much decadent society as the present with more good men who take up justice for gang-rape victims, intact, an incident truly inspired by the Nirbhaya incident forms the nub of the narrative giving life and depth to the chivalry of the four brothers of Ram, Lakshman, Shatrughan and Bharat). What was the Gurukul atmosphere like? (Hint: It was as exciting as any modern-day school). Why did Bharat ask for Ram’s sandals when he was coronated as King of Ayodhya? (The reasons pertain to concerns for safety and security of Ram during his Vanvaas). How were missiles used and how was the forest life? (There were equivalents of Hydrogen bombs used but with rules for using on civilian targets and procedures for atonement…) What are the reasons for the conflict between Devas and Asuras? (Surprise, Devas are not all that menacing…). Why was Urmila left out of the VanVaas? (Hint: She was tricked!) On the whole, Amish attempts a realistic portrayal of an era that is seldom shown in three-dimensional depth even in mythological films in Indian Cinema.

But what is to be faulted is the liberty Amish has taken with many of the aspects of Ramayana that are burnt in our consciousness, atleast in the manner that narratives by devout poets and writers have led us to believe. In the process of building an exciting narrative, I am afraid, Amish has broken many stereotypes that Ramayana-reading folks soaked up for generations. For example, Dasharath is seen as a virulent, ambitious and arrogant king who hates Rama for causing much collateral damage from the day he was born. This is quite different from the “Gummadi” stereotype we know of, from films. Another example, Manthara is not shown as a vile woman in the book, she has depth and reasons solid enough to make Kaikeyi banish from the kingdom. Shatrughn is a voracious reader and the wikipedia of sorts for all the brothers, Bharat is a serial lover and an eternal flirt. Kaushalya, contrary to the epic, is shown as the most insecure. And Kaikeyi is shown as an eternal Rama-hater, unlike what we know of her. Stuff like this gets to your nerve while the author assiduously works on the plot and punctuates the story more ore less on the lines of the epic but keeping the three principal characters true to the original epic - Ram, Sita and Lakshman. That is the saving grace which probably saved the book from getting stuck in controversies. Overall, the book is a passable attempt at re-presenting Ramayana for the modern generation but I am not happy with the treatment of some of the characters and some of the marquee sequences - like the Swayamvar, or the marriage or the manner in which Kaikeyi gets her boons granted by King Dasaratha. 

From his own track-record, this book will be a notch down as the expectations raised were epochal but the prose despite being virulent lacked depth, variety and novelty. What Amish did well admirably is to research some of the circumstances and the characters seldom highlighted like Urmila, Shatrughn, Dhenuka (Wasn’t  he a Brahmin killed by Rama?) and weave modern-day situations like gang-rape and missile wars to concoct. As long as one gets piqued by the book to get back to the original epics, Amish deserves to be well-read but if we get alienated from the original mythology with the concocted wildness floating out of Amish’s imagination, then the book is no different from a work of fiction. There have been many who have benefited from Ramayana and the essence of Ram and Sita for generations. There have been writers after Valmiki too who continue to rev up fervour and devotion towards the magical characterisation of Ram and Sita. C Rajagopalachari’s Ramayana has sold over 1.3 million copies, RK Narayan’s Ramayana has sold several lakh copies. Devout Pattnaik’s “Sita” has also been a best-seller. There have been many film-makers like Bapu who adhered to the original characterisation, as borne down from generations. But Amish is a writer who wants to mix mythology with verve, inject a massive steroid dose and then re-enact the scenes based on today’s interpretation. That way, he can write another five tomes on Ram Chandra series and probably has enough to plunder from Indian Mythology to write for another generation writing on Ganesha, Hanuman, Krishna, Vishnu, Lakshmi, etc. But varying some of the revered plots with ploys to make them entertaining can be self-defeating, even if it is self-serving. Indian publishing is alive to a generation of writers following in the steps of Amish writing on the most popular as well as the least-mentioned characters of Indian Mythology - like “Urmila”, “Karna’s wife’, “Vishwamitra”, “Ajaya”, “Duryodhana” and so on. This is definitely welcome but writers must feel responsible to uphold the mainstay of the Indian Mythology - the values it embodies and the essence of its goodness; you can shun its stereotypes but don’t give your spin on it. The original writers won’t claim your royalties, it is you who is making a career and a royalty out of them. I am happy reading the books by Amish and others for fun but dread the situation when people stop reading the original renditions or translations by writers like Bibek Debroy and Rajagopalachari and flock to these remix versions. 

My rating: 3/5

#Amish #ScionOfIkshvaku #RamChandraSeries #IndianMythology

Bapu's "Seetha Kalyanam"

Watching ETV on Sundays post-lunch is getting quite nostalgic for Bapu film fans. Last Sunday, they aired "Radha Kalyanam". Today, we watched "Seetha Kalyanam". This film, despite the extravagant efforts in trick photography by Ravikant Nagaich and a poetic treatment of Ramayana story from birth of Rama to Seetha Swayamvar turned out to be a damp squib at the box office. 

Made in 1976 at a cost of Rs.14 lacs, it was made in just 14 reels but it created history of all kinds for Bapu-Ramana. Before its release, noted maker B.NagiReddi was shown the first copy. Obviously taken in by the visual treat, and buoyed by the stupendous success of the earlier classic "Sampoorna Ramayanam", Nagi Reddy is said to have remarked: "This should run atleast for an year." It probably ran for as much time - but not in the theatres but at major film festivals around the world - London, Chicago, Berlin, Denver. The producer lost his shirt in the making - his name Pinjala Ananda Rao. What made the Indian audiences walk out of this lyrical beauty and made the Western audiences croon over this film is a mystery. Perhaps, the absence of too many dialogues and too many songs spoiled it. Mullapoodi Venkata Ramana in his autobiography says the film has been the most relaxing for him as a writer because all he had to pen was ten pages of dialogues in the film  - the rest was all Bapu's hardwork and the work of the cinematographers, artists, music director KV Mahadevan and Ravi Nagaich. Audiences in AP however didn't receive the film well - when the movie started playing and the songs wouldn't end - they were clamoring: "Sound! Sound! Can't hear the dialogues." Obviously it bombed and after soaking up earlier to the complete six-course menu meal in "Sampoorna Ramayanam", the visuals didn't strike gold at the Box Office. But it became a milestone for Indian films in special effects and cinematography used in mythologicals. Before Bapu-Ramana stepped into the arena making mythologicals, the benchmark was Kamalakara Kameshwar Rao who was called Mythological Brahma. After the duo stepped in, there was only one way to make Ramayana and that is the Bapu-Ramana way. 

After the film's release, one film critic who wrote for "The Guardian", Derek Malcolm actually sang hosannahs to the team that made "Seetha Kalyanam". And I quote Derek Malcolm: 

"It is one of the most extravagantly beautiful films I have seen...It was really made by a team who have worked together often before. Mullapudi Venkata Ramana (writer), KV Mahadevan (the superb carnatic music), KS Prasad (Cinematography) and Ravee Nagaich (the Ray Harryhausen of Indian Special effects) have combined with Bapu to illustrate part of the Ramayana. The result is like a Hollywood Bible Epic done with real taste - an amalgam of lyricism, poetry and spectacle achieved with rare authenticity (everything is as accurate as possible to the legend and to the centuries-old paintings and decorations that embellish it). All is done with a gravita and dignity that is ultimately very moving. I have seen nothing like it before and can't help thinking that its popularity in the West is assured."

This film review ensured Bapu and producer get the passport to London film festival and get accolades galore. Later, the BBC released an English version of the film as "Seetha's wedding" in four episodes. Most of the world fame attributed to Bapu Ramana came with this film itself - despite the film losing the plot for the audience and the money for the producers. A few years back, one of my close friends gave me a contrarian viewpoint on "Seetha Kalyanam" written by none other than the legendary Satyajit Ray. It pained to read Ray's opinion on the film and here I quote again Ray:

"The chorus of praise showered on the south Indian mythological film "Seetha Kalyanamm" launched it on an invitation tour of the international film festival circuit where it won more praise. And yet, in fifty years of film-going, I have not come across a more flagrant exhibition of unmitigated kitsch. As a cultural hybrid which takes an episode from one of the two great Hindu epics, swamps the interiors with Persian carpets, Mughal chandeliers and comic-strip wall paintings; floods the soundtrack with what is claimed to be classical Carnatic music, but it turns out mostly to be high-decibel film songs a la Bombay; punctuates the story with camera tricks that were already cliches in the early days of the talkies; and wraps the whole thing up in the colours of a chocolate box, "Seetha Kalyanam" is a concoction par excellence. One could see it as being mildly enjoyable as camp, though that is not how the critics saw it.. They took it seriously." Those were the words of Satyajit Ray - one of the all-time Asian legends of film-making who thrived on making films for the western audiences. Phew! I was devastated that a film like this which is an outrighht mythological could be received so differently from a man who was an atheist and whose father Sukumar Ray, another multi-faceted legend wrote stories and spoofs on the Ramayana. One cannot judge Ray for what he said nor take what he said as the measure of what Bapu created iin "Seetha Kalyanam" because Ramayana and Rama-essence was what Bapu breathed all his life. So you cannot fault Bapu for failing to portray a mythological (which by its very nature cannot have historical angles and authenticities of settings) in the myriadness with which he endeavored to.

In his own version of what Satyajit Ray commented on the film, Bapu wrote in one of his last pieces that instead of commenting on whether he liked the film or not, Ray had made just two points on the film. "The carpet on which Seetha sat is of Arabic design. There were no crotons in those times." Bapu was sportive enough to take it on his chin on what the Oscar-winner felt honestly about the film. Then he asked for a snap with Ray which is stuck in his library with a caption: "The Long and short of Indian Cinema." So much for the criticism and its reception - Bapu style. But let me make out another inference: it is after watching Jayaprada play Seetha in the film did Satyajit Ray make the famous statement: "Jayaprada is the most beautiful Indian actress." Even the great director K Balachander once put his hand on Bapu's shoulder and said: "I don't go to temple or do pooja, being an atheist. But after watching "Seetha Kalyanam", my mind was reeling with visuals of your film for one week."

Back to the film SK. Not content with the film's poor reception, producer Ananda Rao went ahead post-film to make another two films with the same starcast of Jayaprada and Ravi who fit so well as Seetha and Rama. They were directed not by Bapu but by Kamalakara Kameswar Rao - "Seetha Rama Vana Vaasam" and "Sri Rama Pattabhishekam" but both bombed at the box office. Large-hearted Bapu Ramana who were paid Rupees Sixty thousand as remuneration for SK returned fifty thousand to the producer who was struggling to make both ends meet. 

Those were some of the tit bits I remembered after seeing the film "Seetha Kalyanam" (even as I am still at a loss of words to pay a fitting tribute to the great Bapu uncle). Most people rate the scene which shows the river Ganga's descent to earth as the best SFX scene which was created by Ravikant Nagaich using loads of chalk powder in gunny bags poured from atop the mendicant hoods of Lord Shiva. Yes that was something ingenious in those days. But my favorite scene is the climax where Parasurama comes after Rama breaks the Shiva's bow at Swayamvar.  It is a fantastic interpretation of what happens when one incarnation makes way for another and there's subtle psychology at work in all the characters in limelight for the scene - Parasuram who feels like a spent force after Rama takes the Vishnu's bow as a test of greatness and breaks with equal elan, and then Vishwamitra who is witness to a new history in making -  he divines that Rama is indeed Vishnu's incarnation and then magically moves his hands - first as an acknowledgement of divine blessings and then waves them back at the Lord as if all that comes to us should go back to Him only. One of the most subtle scenes that tells a lot. 

Those were the times when movies were made with purity of heart and without an expectation of rewards or awards. 'Seetha Kalyanam' will stand the test of time as long as Ramayana stands.

#SeethaKalyanam

"Villain" Movie Review or "Raavanan" Movie Review

"Raavanan" or "Villain" movie tries to break new ground in showing villain as hero and hero as villain. It assembles an ace team who are at Mani "Sir"s beck and call - AR Rehman, Santosh Sivan and a starcast that's contracted to give super-profits even if they show up once. `Ramayana' comes alive in this movie and throws up some dazzling moments - but Mani is losing touch with evocative themes and entertainment in the pursuit of cinematic excellence and artistry.  No wonder they are not firing at BO. Vikram shows more versatility than Aiswarya.