‘Animation excites me’
He made his first film, Aakros in 16mm and blew it up to 35mm to make one of India’s most memorable movies. After watching his film Drishti, late cinematographer Subrata Mitra called it the most well lit film he had watched in the 90s.
After a gap of about five years since his last feature film Dev, Govind Nihalani is completing his first animation film, Kamalu.
At his cozy office at Raj Kamal Kala Mandir, the ace director-cinematographer explains, “Animation excited me from my early days as a cinematographer. It is a very modern form of filmmaking. My contemporary animation film, Kamalu, is about a young camel in Rajastan. The film has been completed within a budget of about Rs 15 crores. I plan to release it early next year.”
But do animation films have an audience in India? He replies, confidently, “They do. Animation films have an audience everywhere in the world. They are different from the usual filmgoers. An animation film has an intelligent audience who understands works of graphic art and advanced technology in cinema. If I was doubtful about an audience reception to Kamalu, I would have never attempted it.”
Aakrosh, Aghaat, Ardhya Satya, Tamas and Drohkaal prove Nihalani’s versatility and commitment to alternate cinema. Then why is it that he did not shoot any film after Dev in 2004? He responds after a pause, “I did not have a subject ready. Dev was made with the objective of promoting the idea of communal feeling in the contemporary Indian police force. I wasn’t partial towards any community. Yet, certain leftist intellectuals and even rightists criticised me for favouring a particular community. This hurt me but I am undaunted. When Tamas was being aired on Doordarshan, Shiv Sena activists wanted to attack me at my Bandra residence. I came to know about it and luckily, escaped the attack by moving to Shyam Benegal’s residence for a few weeks. I am accustomed to these trends of superficial criticism and anarchy.”
He, along with MS Sathyu and Shyam Benegal are trendsetters in the respect that they started neo-wave cinema in Hindi. Their efforts received praise from Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. In their earlier films, rural India was of prime concern.
Why is that side of India not seen at all in today’s films? Nihalani says, “That is a question I also put forward to the present filmmakers. I don’t believe in terming cinema as parallel, commercial or new-age. There are a number of brilliant filmmakers today who are making socially relevant films. Films like Black Friday, Mumbai Meri Jaan and A Wednesday are memorable. But while catering to the multiplex-oriented audience, our filmmakers have sadly neglected rural India. It needed a Shyam Benegal again to focus on the life in villages, subtly, with Welcome To Sajjanpur.”
As a member of the technical wing of the National Film Archives, Nihalani has contributed his bid. He assures, “We have just completed restoring the print of Mrinal Sen’s Khandahar, a brilliant movie which in all probability will be exhibited at the classic section of Cannes this year. There are a number of other classics which the archive is restoring as they are national treasures.”
Nihalani has worked along with Nasiruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Dimple Kapadia, Amrish Puri and of course Amitabh Bachhan, all with much success.
He pins high opinion on the present lot of actors. Says the renowned director, “Irfan Khan, Rajat Kapoor, K K Menon and Tabu are highly gifted performers. So is Kareena Kapoor. Today’s actors believe in natural performances and don’t indulge in theatricals.”
He adds, “Recession has affected Indian cinema to a good extent. My next feature-film got delayed due to the same reason, though I plan to start it early next year. I hope the financial position will improve considerably by then. Many production houses are facing the financial crunch and this is hampering the production of films.” Nihalani assures us of a memorable film, as touching as Aakrosh and Tamas, in the near future.
