‘Film audiences are crying for something different’

Does it strike you that your film’s release is particularly timely considering the death sentence given to the accused in the Parliament attack case?

You must see the film in the context in which it is made. It’s about the life of a hangman in Travancore state in pre-Independence India. It isn’t about terrorism.

So the trauma of the hangman, the son’s opposition to capital punishment … none of this is your political statement against the death penalty?

Capital punishment should be viewed in the context in which it is given. For instance, even the law recognises murder in self-defence. If there is war, you cannot say you believe in non-violence and so refuse to fight back. If you do, you will simply get killed. And war does not necessarily mean officially declared war. Sometimes there is an attack on the state, or a war on society. Anyway, my film is about none of this.

So Nizhalkkuthu is getting a commercial all-India release?

Yes. I thought, how ironical it is that my film will be seen all over the world but in my country it will be seen only in Kerala. So I’m working on releasing it all over India.

Do you really see this film drawing audiences in Kanpur and Lucknow?

Why not? If word-of-mouth from metros is positive, people in smaller centres will get interested. The audience is crying for something different.

Why has this taken so long to happen?

Because the entire exhibition sector in India is geared towards only commercial Hindi films. Earlier, even offbeat Hindi films didn’t find space. When it comes to commercial Hindi films, the songs, the promos, even the TV and print media work towards generating interest in them. In our country, we don’t encourage anything new and different, nor do we encourage excellence. Because of this lack of popular patronage, we stand nowhere in any field abroad. But with audiences refusing to go and see these big commercial films, exhibitors are looking for different cinema. The advent of multiplexes has also helped.

How are you so sure people will want to see your film?

Young people these days are interested in every kind of film. What is this mindset about commercial cinema anyway? Is there such a thing as commercial writing? Doesn’t a Gunter Grass get read in India? Only some people are constantly declaring the death of good cinema, theatre, writing. Such people are only interested in reading obituaries.

So the problem was lack of public access earlier?

Yes. But the press still needs to educate the public, prepare them for this kind of cinema. (Smiles) Not that the public should suffer my film, they should enjoy it.

But aren’t offbeat film makers guilty of making films that the critics praise but nobody else watches?

That’s not fair. Though I admit that there are some people who have done that too and they must take some …

Blame?

Yes. But in my case, my aim has always been to reach out to the audience. I do whatever it takes to do that—give interviews, make posters.

So why does your film have to be shown at festivals abroad for exhibitors here to get interested?

Because distributors in India are not enterprising enough. The film industry in India runs without any economic logic, without any research into audience tastes. That’s why they are constantly recycling formulas. That’s why when one Rajnikanth film did well in Japan, they decided to export every Rajnikanth film to Japan. That’s why when one Devdas gets a minor release abroad, then every bit of rubbish is given subtitles and released abroad. And everyone starts saying, ‘‘Oh, there is an interest in Indian cinema.’’

For heaven’s sake, what is Indian cinema? There is interest everywhere in good cinema.