Five films, five genres, five emotions, one name – Rajeev Ravi: A journey through the directorial ventures of Thuramukham’s captain

That’s when Annayum Rasoolum arrived and shattered all the notions and underlined the impact a well-made film can have on viewers irrespective of its story and where it is set in. Not just that, the film also gave ‘Ernakulamkaar’ an “at home” feeling. The manner in which Kochi’s untamed beauty was caught and portrayed, without the use of any manufactured glitter, altered people’s expectations of what a movie ought to be like. To put it another way, Annayum Rasoolum kind of tosses textbooks, theories and concepts related to filmmaking into the trash and lets the audience journey with Anna and Rasool through Kochi’s lanes and backwaters as they watch their lives play out in front of them.

“I always wanted to be a director… I had been trying to direct a film for years. I attempted to do Annayum Rasoolum with Prithviraj Sukumaran at least seven or eight years before the movie happened. I even had a couple of meetings with him. Yet I was unable to begin the project. Nobody was there to assist or stand by me at the time. Fahadh Faasil was the one who helped me out of this. He expressed interest in working on a movie with me, which inspired me to narrate the story to him. Apart from a few others, I already had the stories of Annayum Rasoolum and Kammatipaadam ready. Fahad ended up liking the story of Annayum Rasoolum the most, so we went ahead with that. He genuinely saved me from a mechanical existence, and for that I am grateful,” Rajeev Ravi tells indianexpress.com.

The story of Annayum Rasoolum itself is quite fresh, despite the film’s central theme being the tried-and-tested “star-crossed relationship” between two people of different religions. Annayum Rasoolum deftly explores the lives of other people who are close to the main couple, in contrast to most romantic movies that tend to exclusively focus on the latter. But even after nine years, the viewers are still haunted by Anna (Andrea Jeremiah) and Rasool (Fahadh Faasil) – from their love for one another, the way they capture each other’s eyes, and how they struggle to overcome obstacles, to the tragedy that befalls them.

“In a way, Annayum Rasoolum was Romeo and Juliet. However, I took those characters and put them in Mattanchery and Vypin, separated by a channel. That geography itself amused me. It may have turned out differently if I had done Annayum Rasoolum seven years earlier. Yet, by the time it actually occurred, I had reached a point where I wanted to experiment with space and time. I just wanted to capture Mattanchery, Vypin and Kochi and the backwaters,” he says.

In addition to snapping the emotions and lives of the characters, the movie also does a fantastic job of portraying the ethos of Kochi, especially the significance placed on the ferry that connects the Vypin islands with the mainland because it determines the daily schedules of hundreds of locals. “I didn’t want to make space; I wanted to capture the genuine space. It was an experiment. I got two cameras. I simply sculpted the actors here and there and began filming without interfering with the daily activities in any of these locations. Up until that point, if a movie was being filmed in Kochi, the streets would be blocked off, the common people would be removed from the roads, and the necessary props would be set up to “create” a Kochi. Hence, it was always a setup. Why create a space at all, in my opinion? I love shooting documentaries. So, I thought why not utilise the actual friction happening around us… Why not capture the ever-changing world? It wasn’t an easy process, for sure. But I just wanted to snap the areas as they are… The surroundings I grew up in, the language I have heard, the people I have seen, their mannerisms and everything possible.”

The way that Annayum Rasoolum creates rhythm from silence and ambience has particularly attracted attention. And this point becomes more amusing as a couple of Rajeev Ravi’s career-best films as a cinematographer were with the Hindi director Anurag Kashyap, who doesn’t miss a chance to incorporate a song or a background soundtrack in his films. Two specific scenes in Annayum Rasoolum stand out for their masterful use of silence and ambience: the first is when Rasool sees Anna drying clothes in her backyard as he is leaving his friend’s house, and their eyes properly lock for almost 15 seconds; the second is when Rasool escapes from police custody after being detained for alleged connections with a hawala racket and arrives at Anna’s house only to discover that she’s died. When asked what inspired him to adopt this style, he replies, “To be completely honest, I have no idea how I decided to use these methods. It was not pre-planned… It happened spontaneously.”

But, that doesn’t imply that the movie features no songs. Annayum Rasoolum begins by paying tributes to musicians M S Baburaj and Meheboob whose music, according to the crew, has been “a perennial source of inspiration for us”.

“Even while embracing silence, I was clear that I wanted songs in Annayum Rasoolum. Songs, especially those by Mehboob bhai, hold many fond memories for the people of Kochi. We can’t make a movie on Kochi without including its rich songs. Even the Christian devotional song used in the movie is significant and pertinent to the land. It was written by a priest, but it narrated what love is. It says love is sacrifice, and love is death… It was so in sync with the movie’s story. The song Zammiluni too. Just like in Shakespeare’s play, the love blossoms and dies off in Annayum Rasoolum as well,” Rajeev Ravi recalls the process of selecting the appropriate music.

“When making a movie, a lot of things influence us — things we have been watching, hearing, reading, etc. These things motivate us, and we wish to pour that out in various places. But, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to do an Annayum Rasoolum again…”

In addition, Annayum Rasoolum also popularised the use of improvised dialogues, which has since come to be cherished by many filmmakers. But, the cinematographer-turned-director’s remark that “we should burn our scripts” back in 2014 drew criticism. “I said that from an aesthetic point of view. Nonetheless, it was misinterpreted. We unquestionably require a script or text. Yet it’s not necessary for this to be the last word. The script is only the start. A director should advance with a text and take it to a new level after receiving it or after getting inspired by it. That’s what filmmaking is all about” Rajeev tells indianexpress.com.

“I always found actors learning a particular dialogue as hard. I wanted to break that… I have seen veteran actor Thilakan doing it beautifully. He used to work on the dialogues. I simply provide the dialogues’ gist or main idea to the performers and ask them to take it forward. This is made much easier with the right casting. Take Soubin Shahir as an example. From Kochi, he is. Since there is no barrier there, he also contributes to the dialogues. Same with other actors too. It’s an interesting process,” he adds.

Njan Steve Lopez (2014)

If only young people received a penny every time they heard someone begin a statement with the words “the kids of these days are…”. Although it is not a new phenomenon for older people to look down on and despise younger people for their way of life, the level of contempt directed at Millennials and Gen Z is much higher than what their immediate predecessors received from their forefathers.

In certain ways, the hypocrisy of this idea is discussed in Njan Steve Lopez, Rajeev Ravi’s second film as a director. As opposed to Annayum Rasoolum, Njan Steve Lopez is an overtly political film. While it shows a youngster single-handedly fighting the preconceived notions of how a young person should live their life, it also vehemently portrays how much those in power fear students and youth. At the same time, the film also sheds light on how the morally-compromised elders try to enchain youngsters by “advising” them not to get involved in matters that do not “concern” them.

“I was irate that so many in our generation were turning into sellouts. That’s how Steve Lopez was born. That is when I had the thought, ‘What if a young man finds out his father is a sellout? What response would he have to it?’ To be honest, even I used to, in my 20s and 30s, blame my juniors. I used to wonder why these children were so ‘lost’ while I was a student at Maharajas College, Ernakulam. But sooner rather than later I realised that it was my problem and not theirs. I gradually realised that after the 1990s, it was we who lost our way. In the flurry of markets opening, we became disoriented. We failed to follow through on our promise to show them the way. During that time, our generation did nothing. There was no decent writing, no good art. Malayalam literature and films from the 1990s and the early 2000s demonstrate this. Nothing of any value was produced by us. Now, the circumstance is different. Our surrounding has become more vibrant. There are festivals for literature, films, and arts. There are high-quality literature and films. Ajay Mangad, Hareesh, and Indugopan are just a few of the talented authors coming out of the literary world. They are my contemporaries,” Rajeev Ravi says, “But if you recall, there wasn’t much going on before that.”

Njan Steve Lopez’s central message of “caring for the other” still rings true in a society where many people, especially youngsters, proudly wear the label “apolitical” on their sleeves, “silently” paving the way for the oppressors as the environment grows increasingly tense and religious fanaticism and caste hatred gain ground.

The entire plot is summed up in one of actor Anil Nedumangad’s dialogues from the film. When Steve Lopez’s (Farhaan Faasil) mother blames him for getting involved in “unnecessary matters”, Freddie (Anil Nedumangad) asks her, “What else ought he to have done? Abandon the victim of a hack, who was lying on the road, battling for life? This too is education. What good will an inhumane person do by studying a lot?” Off late, this particular scene has constantly been making the rounds on social media.

“Shouldn’t humanity be the first thing that we are taught? Our generation didn’t teach the kids that. We got lost in the race for making money. We didn’t reflect or make an effort to instill in the children the value of humanity. I still recall how idealistic everyone was when we started college. Our seniors used to inspire us. They were good and powerful. They weren’t sellouts. They used to strive for that and stood by their convictions. Our elders, who used to read, write, share, suggest books, take us to the movies and talk about world cinema with us, served as our inspiration. Yet, we were unable to do that for our juniors. Hence, we cannot place the blame on the children. It fell under our purview,” Rajeev says adding: “In short, Njan Steve Lopez was a tribute to the youngsters.”

Njan Steve Lopez features debutants Farhaan Faasil and Ahaana Krishna in the lead roles, while Sujith Shankar plays a key supporting role. The film, however, failed to draw in audiences during its theatrical run. Steve Lopez was taken out of numerous cinema halls during its debut week itself, despite today’s cult reputation, due to poor footfall.

Kammatipaadam (2016)

“Your Ernakulam city is not that strong… It is standing on the marshland of Kammatipaadam. It was built not using cement and rocks, but using clotted black blood… The blood of people like Ganga…” screams Krishnan (Dulquer Salmaan) before kicking Surendran Aashaan (Anil Nedumangad) through the glass window of a tower located in the heart of Kochi, avenging the murder of his friend Ganga (Vinayakan).

For the longest period, and indeed to this day, Dalit characters in Malayalam cinema have either been depicted as villains or as a source of humour. The cruelty the industry has meted out to Dalits over the years, in terms of their representation and ostracism from behind and on screens, is too much that it appears as though undoing the damage is almost impossible, despite the fact that movies like Ratheena’s Puzhu (2022) and Mahesh Narayanan’s Malayankunju (2022) are trying to make a change.

Kammatipaadam must arguably be the first mainstream film to give many overlooked faces a respectable space on the Malayalam cinema screen, which otherwise is a haven for savarna men and their stories.

The film is without a doubt the documentation of Kochi’s unsung history; the history of Kochi’s transformation into Ernakulam. Kochi, here, can be considered as a metaphor for all large cities wherein “certain” people are displaced and dispossessed of lands and properties for “development”. And of course, caste plays an important role in this dispossession. Kammatipaadam strives to show that Kochi was created on the rubble of people who were forcibly driven from their homeland. The film deftly portrays the roles caste, class, and power play in the urbanisation of a(ny) city, particularly Kochi.

Unlike Njan Steve Lopez, Kammatipaadam’s “protagonist” has a familiar face; it’s Dulquer Salmaan who had already made a name for himself by that point. Though a good portion of the story is narrated by his character Krishnan, he is hardly ever the focus. Kammatipaadam depicts the story of the Dalits in Kochi and how the affluent upper-caste men use them as mere tools before throwing them in the trash after their tasks are completed.

“I witnessed what Kammatipaadam talks about growing up. The majority of the movie is a retelling of real events, even though not everything in it is taken directly from reality. Kammatipaadam was the first story I developed in my life. Several of the things in it are very dear to my heart,” Rajeev Ravi says while affirming that its making process itself was great.

The movie is about people like Balan Chettan (Manikandan R Achari), Ganga, Anitha (Shaun Romy), and Achachan (Sudarshan Appangad). It is about their difficulties to make ends meet and how the powerful subjugate Dalits who are bold enough to stand in their way by giving them “work” as their henchmen before ultimately betraying them, leaving the latter destitute and fighting to avoid being killed by rivals.

In every sense, Kammatipaadam is a modern-day classic that masterfully combines the most relevant story with the most exquisite aesthetics. Even today, the movie is memorable for its superb picturisation, brilliant script, songs, and performances. The songs, especially “Puzhu Pulikal” composed by Vinayakan and “Para Para” by John P Varkey (both penned by Anwar Ali), deserve a standing ovation every time we hear them for encapsulating the entire movie and Kochi’s past in the most skilful manner possible.

“But I can’t sit through the movie anymore [laughs]. Now, all I can see are the mistakes,” says the master filmmaker about the timeless film.

Rajeev Ravi revealed shortly after the movie’s debut that he had to cut out some scenes from it for theatrical release. He also stated that one day he would like to have the film’s four-hour director’s cut released. “Recently one person gave me a call and requested the four-hour cut. But that’s when I realised how tedious a task it would be. The sound and a few other things will need to be redone. That will cost quite a lot,” he says, shattering the dream of scores of cinephiles.

Kuttavum Shikshayum (2022)

Given that the majority of Malayalam cop movies are quite loud and dialogue-heavy, Kuttavum Shikshayum (Crime and Punishment) was a breath of fresh air. It was also the first film in which Rajeev Ravi was not the writer. The film’s script was created by Sibi Thomas and Sreejith Divakaran based on a story Thomas had written. The film chronicles a true jewellery heist that took place in Kasaragod in 2015, along with the police investigation that followed. The team that probed the incident back then included writer Sibi Thomas, who is now a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

“Kuttavum Shikshayum is the depiction of an incident that had actually happened. You may recall that one of Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s early works, The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor, was a report that was initially published as a series in a newspaper. Márquez worked as a journalist at the time. In the aftermath of a shipwreck, Márquez went and interviewed a young sailor who survived the mishap and wrote a series on it. He later published this as a book (in 1970). Even though it was in the form of reportage, The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor had a dramatic and emotional undercurrent that you could feel as you read it. It slowly grows on you. When I started working on Kuttavum Shikshayum, I made the decision to approach it as a reportage. Yet I’ve left out the location. I concealed that information. It’s somewhere in North India, that’s all I wanted to show. In fact, if you look closely, even the license plates of the vehicles used don’t reveal much as to where the probe is happening. When I narrated the story to Asif Ali, I told him that this was an experiment,” says Rajeev Ravi while asserting that he really enjoyed making Kuttavum Shikshayum too even though he was unsure of how it would turn out.

The film, however, met with mixed responses from both critics and moviegoers. “H Vinoth’s Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru, starring Karthi, too adopted a similar aesthetic, albeit with more masala elements. Kuttavum Shikshayum had the potential to have major fights and other masala elements. I, however, did not wish to do it. I was eager to try something new. Though the film didn’t work at all in theatres, a few people seemed to like it after its OTT release. Yet, a lot of people did not, including several of my friends. I, however, received appreciation from real-life police officers who have been part of such investigations. A few of them gave me a call and raved about it. Some admitted to seeing the movie more than once. It was pretty unexpected because I never imagined they’d enjoy it.”

Thuramukham (2023)

This film is not just a piece of artwork but also a documentation of the events leading up to the cold-blooded Mattanchery firing incident of 1953. It is also a tribute to many different things, including the port city of Kochi, the labourers, their struggles, the protests that ensured they got what they deserve, and a lot more.

“In Kochi and Mattanchery, there are numerous stories floating around concerning the Mattancherry riot. I discovered as I began my research into the tragedy that there are numerous accounts of it, and from these accounts, we get the impression that the riot claimed a greater number of lives and injured many more. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to know for sure. I learned a lot of fascinating details about it, that were not documented (by the authorities), from a play written by the father of one of my friends. By combining this drama with the stories I heard from the people, I was able to conjure up my own Mattanchery. So the story of the movie is not just what I discovered in records,” Rajeev Ravi tells indianexpress.com.

In fact, Thuramukham skillfully succeeds where Mahesh Narayanan’s Malik (2021) failed, particularly in terms of depicting an occurrence that sent chills up Kerala’s spine. While the creators of Malik resisted acknowledging that the film was based on a conveniently forgotten atrocity, Thuramukham’s team bravely admits that the film is an effort to document an underdocumented occurrence.

New projects

When asked if he is currently working on any prospective stories that might lead to his next directorial venture, Rajeev Ravi responds, “I am always working on stories. There are several stories in my head right now. But I haven’t zeroed in on anything. For me, Thuramukham getting released is a big relief. If that hadn’t happened, I might have left this place and done something else. With Thuramukham hitting the screens, I can now begin planning my next project. I have a couple of ideas and I might do something immediately also. Let’s see… This is anyway a good time to make films…”