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 It
was a spontaneous applause that followed the screening of the
Tamil feature film 'Aaniver'. "Nanda and I were standing outside
the doors of the theatre when we heard the claps," said an
obviously overwhelmed John Mahendran, the film's
writer-director. Shot on a tight budget and entirely in Sri
Lanka, it's a love story between a Sri Lankan Tamil doctor and
an Indian reporter, in the backdrop of the Sri Lankan ethnic
strife. It's sensitive scripting, raw realism and some honest
performances from it's leads, Nanda and Madumitha, was what
touched a chord in the audience.
And the response was equally overwhelming
when it was screened at Tamil pockets in places like London,
Canada, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark, says John. The film is
yet to be released in India. Son of ace director Mahendran, John
had to live under the shadow of a famous father. He may not have
struck the right chord with his debut film 'Sachien'
the Vijay-Genelia potboiler. But his second film 'Aaniver' has
not just brought him out of his father's shadow, but put him on
the right track too. In a tete-a-tete, the director talks about
his experiences in the making of the film.
 How
did the idea for the plot germinate in your mind?
Honestly speaking, I was not at all aware of
what was happening to Tamil people in Sri Lanka till I made 'Aaniver'.
My knowledge was just limited to headlines about Sri Lanka's
happenings. Bombings, mass death, attacks...but who, why, I had
no clue. Sandhya's character in the movie was very much me.
Where did you find the background
material?
This gentleman named Pirabhakaran, who is a
Sri Lankan Tamilian now settled in Switzerland, suggested me to
make a movie on Sri Lankan Tamil people. First thing that
attracted me as a director, was a movie with a war zone
backdrop. I was given so many materials about the pathetic lives
of Tamil people in Sri Lanka. But I had difficulty reading the
Sri Lankan Tamil, so I opted to meet them in person. People who
were in the midst of tragic happenings, people who have lost
their loved ones, people who have lost their organs, and, above
all, people who were adamant not to leave their homeland. There
I was seated in front of unbelievable tragedies, one exceeding
the other. It dawned on me what a great responsibility has been
thrust on me as a director and above all as a human being. The
movie, 'Aaniver', was born.
And your cast? Nanda and Madhumita, you've
extracted a sincere, honest performance from them.
 As
far as the casting goes, I wanted a name to make my audience
come to the theatre, and also someone with a low profile image.
Artistes who by hearsay came to know that we were making a movie
on the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, called me asking for even a
small role. I was touched by their compassion, even more touched
when they refused to take my call as my shooting days came
close. Nanda, who happens to be a friend of my co-director Giri,
rang my doorbell in the middle of the night and gave his
passport and said that if I am convinced with him as an actor,
our next meeting will be on the flight to Sri Lanka. Madhumita,
I just saw a couple of her photos in a Tamil magazine and spoke
to her over the phone. Though she was a Telugu girl, she did
this movie about Tamil people and proved that compassion was
above all that. As far as their performance goes, both are
basically emotional human beings. All I did was share the
tragedies I heard which made them empathise with the characters.
They were in the middle of people who had really faced the
situation and they just reacted to it. That's one important
reason why they were able to perform so well. (Perform? Or
live?) Rest of the characters were all original people who were
of the same profession in the movie. All I had to do was just
sadistically remind them of the unforgettable tragedy and they
re-lived the moment. Nothing but blatant emotions.
It was a risky proposition: your theme,
and your shooting in Sri Lanka. Were you apprehensive? What
problems did you anticipate?
Actually speaking, initially, I was just
excited that I am about to direct a movie on a war zone. But
after I met those people and looked into their life, I realised
how much I was blessed to direct this movie when there were so
many good directors here. A very honest thought of doing a film
about people who were leading a tragic life made me believe that
God will be near me at all times. We went through the regular
procedures any other foreign tourists undergo in Sri Lanka. We
believed we were just making a movie, not
breaking any laws.
And what were the actual problems you
faced?
Honestly, absolutely nothing. I don't want to
go on a dramatic reply trying to project us as warriors. After
all, we were just making a movie.
Can you mention any unforgettable incident
during the shoot?
 Many.
There was this sequence, where doctor Nanda comes rushing with a
wounded boy. The boy apparently dies. We had this lady who is
supposed to be the mother of the boy. I wanted the mother to
break down screaming when the boy dies pathetically. After
13 takes, I was losing my patience when the lady refused to
break down in tears. I, with a loud voice, asked whether she had
not faced tragedies or whether she could not cry. She replied
with a gray smile, "Moonu Kuzhandhaigala Porla Ezhandhuten.
Neraya Azhuduhuten, Thambi. Enakku Azhuga Vaarathu." ("I have
lost three kids because of war... I have cried enough. I can't
cry anymore.") There we were all, standing and looking at a
truth impotently...
The tight budget must have brought in its
own constraints?
Cinematographer P C Sriram sir once said, the
more the limitations the more you will get creative. This is the
key word in the making of 'Aaniver'. All we had was just a
Panasonic HDTV camera. Absolutely no basic technical equipment
for making a movie, especially of this genre. But I had my
cinematographer Sanjay, who was a big strength to me. He was a
man who made the fullest use of whatever we had on location.
Fire, car, lorry headlights were more than enough for him. He
had the guts to stretch the HDTV camera to its limits. We were
just six of us. Nanda, Madhumita, Sanjay, Jaikumar, Giri and me.
We were doing everything. We were all directors, light men, art
assistants, still photographer and make-up artistes. The very
reason that we were deprived of equipment made us come up with a
different style of presentation. Local people, who had no prior
experience in film shooting, assisted us. People who have lost
many things in the war. But the very thought we were making a
movie about them made them work with so much intensity. THEY HAD
VERY LITTLE, BUT THEY GAVE EVERYTHING. I sincerely thank each
and everybody who stood next to me in the making of 'Aaniver'.
Without them it wouldn't have been possible. They are the real
aaniver.
It's been released abroad to glowing
reviews. Why the delay in releasing it in India?
As a Tamil film-maker I was skeptical about
the commercial success of 'Aaniver' here in Tamil Nadu. So, we
had brushed aside the thought of releasing the movie here. But
after the recent write-ups, I am getting so many offers to
release the movie. So we are
taking the initiative for it.
Is it because you anticipitated a
controversy, as it's a sensitive subject you've dealt with?
 I
don't understand why a controversy. We have just portrayed what
we all read and see in the media about what's happening to Tamil
people in Sri Lanka. But this time on a bigger screen. There is
nothing fictitious in the movie. It's just the bare truth. Not
something that happened long ago but something that you read
this morning in a newspaper, sipping your coffee, enjoying the
early morning breeze.
You've given it a positive ending, the
beginning of a new hope. Was it your first thought, or a
compromise ending.?
A hope every Tamil in Sri Lanka has. The
movie might end but the problem still prevails. I don't want to
have an ending trying to tell a solution or a judgment. At the
same time, I didn't wnt to end the movie abruptly. I wanted my
viewer to feel that some day in the near future, all this will
end in a positive way. Though we see Sandya meeting up with
Nanda in the end, you still get to hear the sounds of bomb
blasts, helicopters whirring past, suggesting that war still
goes on.
Your father, director Mahendran, has a
great repertoire of work. Did you ever feel that you were under
his shadow? What was his reaction to the film?
 I,
like any other film-maker in India, have great admiration for my
dad as a great film-maker. Being his son always put me in
comparison with his works. Honestly, I don't think anyone in the
near future can come close to director Mahendran's 'Uthiri
Pookkal'. My dad didn't like my work in 'Sachien'. But I think
he was a little happy about 'Aaniver' because he had very little
complaints and suggestions.
What was the feedback at the foreign
screenings, and from your colleagues?
Feedback? Normally, we all feel happy when
people appreciate our work, be it anything. But as far as 'Aaniver'
is concerned, every call I got about the movie left me
depressed. I had this call from this gentleman named Waagan from
Germany who said that he watched 'Aaniver' with his daughter who
was born and brought up in Germany. And in the episode where
5,00,000 Tamil people are sent out of Jaffna, he had told his
daughter, "This is how I walked out of our home leaving my
mother to die because she refused to leave her husband's house."
And he told me that his daughter was holding his hands for the
rest of the movie with tears in her eyes. I got the Oscar.
Malini Mannath
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