Ariyippu director Mahesh Narayanan on the debate on the national language: 'Cinema is beyond language boundaries now'

Mahesh Narayanan is one of Malayalam cinema’s foremost contemporary filmmakers whose work in many ways, defines the movement of regional cinema into a pan-India positioning. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, he speaks of his stunning new film _Ariyippu_ . Ariyippu is an intriguing blend of a migratory drama and a thriller. Tell me about the genesis of this film? The initial idea for the film came from a news article which happened in Mumbai. That was in 2015 when a lady working in a Bank went to the high court of Mumbai asking for a Declaration from the judge. The reason was about a look-alike video of her was seen on many adult dating sites. So she was facing troubles in her personal and professional life. The Judge was quite sarcastic. He told her that, as long as her family and friends know that the person in the video is different, why are you here in court? She mentioned clearly that, anything which is put on the digital domain can come back at any stage of her life. Finally, the judge gave a written document. The idea stayed with you? Yes, this was within me for a long period, and I wanted to work something out of that. Then later, during the start of Covid, I visited a few gloves factories in Kerala with some friends. There I found this interesting migration route of skilled labourers with a transit period in Delhi for 6 to 8 months. Then this whole idea started forming. It is also unique in being a rare Malayalam film set outside Kerala .How and why did you pick Delhi as the hub of your drama? Delhi is where these workers come and settle for a few months for getting recruited. So that became the geography. Drama perhaps is not the term to describe your cinema. So much happens and yet the surface tension remains unbreached. How do you keep your characters so calm during a crisis? I think, most of my characters are grey. So, they might have gone through even worse situations. Also, when you come to Ariyippu , both Hareesh and Reshmi are already in a desperate situation to travel abroad for a better living. The marriage itself is a marriage of convenience, which is very common among the Malayali migrant population. Your actors, not only Kunchacko Boban and Divya Prabha but all of them, don’t act at all. How did you pick the cast that you did? And what was your brief to them? I give them the script well in advance and I insist on a few reading sessions. Even before giving them the draft, I give them a narration which covers certain perspectives from the end. So when this reading happens, I get some time to rework certain dialogues and fine tune them as per their behaviour. As you mentioned, there is enough drama in the script. But when I make them perform, I try to filter out a few layers which instinctively enhances drama. Also if you have the liberty to picturise scenes in chronology, then actors will also be new to certain situations. I can also feel the character growing inside them gradually, which is very easy to capture. The spoken language in Ariyippu is both Hindi and Malayalam in fact you have even cast Hindi actors. What is your take on the debate on the national language? I believe cinema is beyond language boundaries now. That’s the freedom I am enjoying now as a filmmaker when I can write a scene with three characters speaking in three languages. For me, a language is just a communication tool. When I have a story set in Delhi, my major language will organically become Hindi. Earlier we used to mix actors from the same language without any logic for all terrains. Now audiences are accepting the reality and are well aware that the story is set in a specific place. As a Malayali, Malayalam is my national language and I am always comfortable making films here. Since my topics are often related to migration, I have to be honest with the geography and people living there. How do you assess your own work in the past two years? Malik was supposed to get released in 2020 beginning. Then there was Malayankunju in 2022. I am happy to be working continuously. Your collaboration with Fahadh Faasil has yielded some special cinema. Who according to you are the Malayalam actors carrying Malayalam cinema forward? I think the content which is produced here is what taking this industry forward now. Creators, Actors and producers are all waiting to get the content right. There might be failures also as part of certain experimentation. But overall there is a satisfaction and camaraderie among people now which brings all together under one roof. How do you manage to make all your films so thematically and tonally different ? That’s a conscious decision. I always want that. Otherwise, I might be following my own specific style or template. Here I am learning this new way from the beginning. So everything that comes across is new to me. You are among the pioneers of contemporary Malayalam cinema. What makes you grapple with the grammar of new subjects so comfortably? All my stories so far are from my own experiences. Something I have witnessed, read or being explained to me by friends. After that there is a process within me to think from all the dimensions. Even before thinking about the sub characters. A great amount of time is spent for that process. As long as I enjoy this process and have the patience to wait and see how it happens, I might succeed in telling the story. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.