Vijay George  

Friendly smiles greet Pradeep Nair as he steps out after watching the Chinese film `Kekexili: Mountain Patrol,’ which is one of the films that was screened in the competition section at the International Film Festival of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram.

It has been quite an eventful year for Pradeep Nair, director of `Oridam.’ The film figured both in the State and national film awards this year and received rave reviews in the recent International film festivals in Goa and in Thiruvananthapuram.

`Oridam’ (`An abode’) portrays a young sex worker’s craving to lead a `normal’ life. The film has been invited to quite a number of festivals and has been appreciated by critics in India and abroad.

Although he is quite happy about the response to the IFFK, Pradeep says that he would have liked `Oridam’ to be included in the competition section.

“Initially, I was told that my film would be included in the competition section. But to my surprise it didn’t happen. We just have one entry from Malayalam this year in the segment. I feel the number could have been more,” he says.

“Malayalam cinema have reasons to cheer, considering the fact that seven films made it to the Panorama in the Goa festival,” says the director about his experience in the recent IFFI held there.

“However, our films were initially left behind considering the huge publicity given to certain Bollywood films. Still, the films from Malayalam got a rousing response from the audience.”

The success of films definitely depend on how well you market it, he feels.

Serious cinema

“Sadly, though Keralites rave about serious cinema, I wonder how many viewers would actually turn up to see such films in theatres. It’s unfortunate to divide cinema into art and commercial films. Our efforts are evidently to make films that are seen by the audience. With the kind of passive attitude to serious films by the viewers in general, film festivals are perhaps the greatest avenues for serious filmmakers to showcase their efforts.”

Will he stick to a serious subject in his next project too, considering the difficulties involved in marketing such movies? “Well, my effort will be to make a film that will make use of the possibilities of cinema to the hilt,” he avers.

 Published on Friday, Dec 16, 2005
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/12/16/stories/2005121600490200.htm