A Beautiful Mind

“Ramanujan is the story of a genius who struggled against a disdainful society and scornful academia,” says Rajasekaran,who has just finished shooting for the film and is now focusing on editing. The film features Abhinay,the grandson of legendary Tamil actor Gemini Ganeshan; Suhasini Maniratnam,wife of the noted director Mani Ratnam; and British actors Kevin McGowan and Micheal Lieber,among others.

“I was reading in the papers about the stress children are put through to excel in exams,” says Rajasekaran,who has earlier made biopics such as Bharathi (2000) and Periyar (2007) based on the lives of poet Subramaniya Bharathiyaar and social reformer and rationalist Periyar EV Ramasamy,respectively. “I was worried about the fact that the Indian education system compels children to be average in all subjects rather than excel in one,” he says. “If a child does not study to become a doctor or engineer,society considers him a failure,” says Rajasekaran,adding that this is the reason he thought that Ramanujan and his struggle for excellence would inspire today’s youth in academic excellence-driven cities such as Delhi,Mumbai,Pune,Bangalore and Chennai,among others.

Ask him about the research that went into the film and Rajasekaran,also the screenwriter of the film,answers in a matter-of-fact manner,“Well,research is not that difficult. I simply read all major literature on the life of Ramanujan,along with the articles that had appeared in major newspapers and journals of the time — without thinking about the story or the script.”

He adds that he kept at it until a theme started to emerge in his mind. “I realised that I wanted the film to focus on the suffering of genius,” he says. “The adverse social conditions in south India at that time saw Ramanujan’s mathematical capabilities dismissed by the society,pushing him to take up employment as a clerk and subsist on meagre wages. I wanted to portray that struggle,” he adds. With no formal training in pure Mathematics,Ramanujan made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis,number theory,infinite series,and continued fractions.

The film has been shot in locations such as Kumbakonam,where Ramanujan grew up and attended college; Namakkal,the abode of Ramanujan’s family deity; Chennai,where Ramanujan worked at the Port Trust Office; and in Cambridge and London,where he finally received accolades for his mathematical prowess.

In 1912–1913,Ramanujan sent samples of his theorems to three academics at the University of Cambridge. GH Hardy,recognising the brilliance of his work,invited Ramanujan to visit and work with him at Cambridge. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society and of Trinity College,Cambridge. Hardy,who was both a mentor and friend to Ramanujan,has been played by British television and theatre artiste Kevin McGowan. “The relationship that they shared was a beautiful one. It was not complicated,but it was poetic,” says Rajasekaran.

The film,which will be ready for release by the end of this year,has been shot on a celluloid camera rather than a digital one. “The colours,scenery and the vibrancy are much better captured on the celluloid camera. I shoot all my films on it,” says Rajasekaran,adding that it will not be more than two hours and forty minutes in length,and released all across India.