JOIN USOn my pinboard - Girish Kasaravalli
Kannada filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli has clearly carved a niche through his films over the years. He is one of the pioneers of parallel cinema in the Indian film industry and has won the National Award 14 times. He is the only South Indian filmmaker to win the ‘Golden Lotus’ four times, including the ‘Best Feature Film’ award four times. His films such as ‘Ghatashraddha’, ‘Tabarana Kathe’, ‘Dweepa’ and ‘Thaayi Saheba’ are popular for their powerful content and unique style of narration. Girish is known to weave an inimitable style in his works.
Inspiration
Shivaram Karanth
“Different people have influenced and inspired me at different stages of my life. I read with great interest the works of Shivaram Karanth and there is a small story behind it. My grandfather Pandit Narasimha Shastry has been instrumental in shaping my thoughts as a boy.
He was a Kannada and Sanskrit scholar and a Gandhian too. He would always ask me to read the works of Dr K Shivaram Karanth and Kuvempu. My grandfather analysed the merits of those works for me.
He wouldn’t let us — his grandchildren — waste our time reading pulp fiction.”
Author
Kuvempu
“I’ve grown up reading a lot of Kannada literature. Initially, it was the fictional works of Kuvempu and Shivaram Karanth and later on, I began reading other major works from Kannada literature. My initiation into world literature and literature in other Indian languages happened much later. But I say without a second thought that it is Kannada literature and the various social movements in Karnataka that have shaped my creative abilities.”
Music
Dagar Brothers
“I am slightly deaf to music and can’t really differentiate one style from the other. But I listen to Hindustani classical music when I sit down to write a script. Though I don’t understand the nuances, it helps me find the right
visuals. I realised this potential of music while
watching the short film ‘Rendezvous’ by Ritwik Ghatak, which had ‘Drupad’ by
‘Dagar Brothers’ as the
background score. The music would create an ambience where the images of the characters I write about would appear in my mind. Such is the power of music, although I don’t follow much of it.”
Travel
ITALY
“I’ve been to some places in Italy but I’ve never been able to spend a long time there. I’d like to visit Greece and Rome for their fascinating archeology. I am also deeply fascinated by places with water. I grew up in the Malnad region where forests were an integral part of my childhood and I am still drawn to these areas. I always yearn to go to Sahyadri Hills, especially during heavy rainfall. I get lost in the hills whenever I am there.”
Cuisine
‘Anna sambar’
“I am not a foodie. I always settle for ‘anna sambar’ and never get tired of it. I spent my childhood in Malnad and there, people cook a variety of dishes from the vegetables that are grown in their backyard. I always liked and cherished these. I don’t relish Continental food or North Indian food too much. I’ve never liked the taste of ‘chaats’ and sometimes my system doesn’t accept any of these things. I am not a great cook either — I can make only coffee and nothing else.”
Cinema
Yasujiro Ozu
“During my days at FTII, I admired the works of Japanese masters such as Yasujiro Ozu and Akira Kurosawa, Italian filmmaker Antonioni and our very own Satyajit Ray. I like Kurosawa for his command over the medium, Antonioni for his usage of idioms, Ozu for his philosophical approach and Satyajit Ray for his humanism. The list has grown even bigger now.”
(As told to Nina C George)