Maju on his film Appan: 'My friends shared experiences of toxic masculinity, from where the idea developed'

With the Malayalam film Appan , director Maju has proved himself as a master storyteller. The stunning drama about toxic patriarchy is being hailed as original and exciting. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the filmmaker opened up on his film and much more.

Appan shocks you, shakes you up. Where did the idea for this monster father come from?

Kerala has seen a history migration from plainlands to highlands in early 1950’s…And some of the settlers have colonized these High ranges through brute force and savagery. Though primarily this migration was for a livelihood and living, some settlers resorted to exploit the forests and indulge in hunting wild animals. This greed for land, meat and exploitation were a recurring theme for many stories and novel set in High range. So I have come across this literature and some of my friends (from high range) too have shared their experiences and incidents  of toxic masculinity often in form of a father. It’s from these thought the idea of this film developed…as to how these kinds of people behave in their homes, their worldview etc.

Patriarchy has always been the predominant driving force of our society. Do you think cinema needs to stop reinforcing patriarchal values?

Cinema is just a medium of art, I don’t think we could use movie as a tool social reformation. However, even if  positive values are not propagated through cinema, we will try to avoid evil as much as possible.

If I may ask, how was your equation with your father in your real life?

My father was a farmer with no significant education. Though he was very loud mouthed we share excellent relationship, and he means a world to me.

Please tell me about how you chose your two powerful lead actors for father and son and the rest of the wonderful cast.

Alencier Ley Lopez was in mind when we wrote this script. The person who would be bed ridden , with only a movement above the waist and only an incredible actor can pull off this role and Alencier fits that role perfectly. His voice has great importance in this film. He wanted to overcome the deformity of his body through his voice. That’s why he’  modulated his voice from his normals and incorporated a much louder, more unpleasant sound. It was our deliberate decision that Itty’s voice should be disturbing to the audience.

What made you choose Sunny Wayne for the son?

When it came to his son, I was sure that Sunny Wayne was a good actor and if he got a good role, he will perform beautifully. The son is a very deep character,  a son who knows the cruelties  that his father has inflicted upon his mother, the cruelties as a son  he has to bear all through these years…and just  because he was born as the son of this father, the isolation he faced from the society. He is angry at his father and even  wants to kill him. But he backs away from it because he is convinced that his son is growing up seeing him and that he will be at fault in front of his mother and wife. It’s a character full of self-conflicts.

The  women characters, though subservient, are also sharply etched.

Though it is a story of a father-son relationship, we have taken care to show four kinds of female characters through this film. Kuttiyamma, who has no choice but to endure, and her daughter Molly, who contains traits of her father’s qualities, and Rosie, who takes the side of the truth, which makes it clear that if a conflict occurs, she must leave, Sheela is portrayed as a representative of current times,  another Kuttiamma  in making ,tied by helpless and no shelter., So regardless of times, woman are always constrained and chained!…….Well, the task of finding actors to play these characters was very challenging.

Tell me about yourself, your first film French Viplavam, which was an interesting satire on prohibition, though not anywhere as powerful as Appan.

Well, as you rightly pointed out, French Viplavam was a satirical take on the arrack ban. It happened in Kerala without much thought. When government banned arrack,people who are habituated to this local and cheap liquor were left in lurch and they all desperately started looking for other form of  intoxicants.. though some went  to find solace in foreign liquor and ganja …the hapless majority resorted to find rescue in illicit liquor. which in a way is far more dangerous and calamity-prone than arrack itself!!! So the ban was rather counter productive and I  attempted to highlight this point.

Malayalam cinema has witnessed a fullblown renaissance in recent times. Who are the filmmakers to have inspired you?

My all-time favorite director is K.G George . And from current times…it’s Lijo Jose Pallisheri, Dileesh Pothan and Rajeev Ravi.

What are you making next?

I want to experiment with different genres; I want to do a very humorous film next. If I get into the work of that film, I will forget my Appan and focus on the next project.

Any actors and filmmaker whose work you like in Hindi cinema?

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Radhika Apte, Vidya Balan. Among the Hindi directors, I like Anurag Kashyap and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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