IT’S HARD TO MAKE A FILM using a subject like Koodiyattam, the dying 2,000-year-old theatre tradition from Kerala. And it’s harder still to make such a filmcommerciallysuccessful.Thiruvanan-thapuram- based director Sashi Paravoor, with his award-winning film Nottam, has managed to do both.After three successful screenings in New Delhi, including one at the Habitat Film Festival inMay,Nottam has completed two successful weeks at eight cinema halls in Kerala. That’s an achievement, feels Par-avoor. He says: “In Kerala, even directors likeAdoorGopalakrishnanfailtoruntheir films successfully at the theatres. So I’m not complaining much… just hoping myfilmdoeswell.”Nottam, Paravoor’s fifth pro-duction in a career spanning 15 years, is a connoisseur’s delight. It is spun around stageperformancesbyMargi Sathi, a renowned Nangi-yarkoothu (a solo form of Koodiyattam performed by female artistes) danseuse who is equally well-trained in Mohiniyat-tam and Bharatanatyam.For the film, noted Malayalam actor Ne-dumudi Venu learnt the original art form. SaysParavoor:“Usually, actorshesitatetotry outtraditionalarts.But Venuwasmorethan ready. He made few mistakes and took care toperformallrituals beforegoingonstage.”The director even added filmi romance to the serious subject, making a couple of young actors run across the paddy fields in Pattambi, a sleepy town in the southern state, where he shot the outdoors. You don’t even mind the song sequences, that run back-to-back, a Koodiyattam performance each. “That’s unavoidable. You need something to attract young people,” says the director. It was in 2001, when Unesco declared Koodiyattam as “a masterpiece of the oral and intangible her-itage of humanity,” that Paravoor gave up hisidea touseKathakaliin afilmandopted for the more delectable dance form. Moreover, Kathakali had been used ex-tensively in Vanaprastham, a film by Shaji Karun starring Mohanlal, which was shown attheCannes FilmFestivalin1999. Paravoor reflects:“Though I had a decent knowledge of Koodiyattam, I researched further on the art form and the lives of all prominent artistes. I approached Margi Sathi in 2002 and she agreed to work in the film.”The shooting lasted for 25days,costRs 60 lakhs and experienced a terrible tragedy that struck Margi Sathi—her husband died on the sets. “I was in awe of the way Sathi handled her personal pain. She just went ahead with the shoot.” That was the past. Now when peo-ple are crowding the theatres in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, Sathi has all rea-sons to smile. “I am even planning to get Margi Sathi to Delhi for a performance,” says a delighted Paravoor who bagged the Kerala State Award for the film in 2005. He hopes to send his film to Cannes next year. What next? “A film on AIDS, for which I am talking to a few foreign filmmakers,” he says. He has approached Mallika Sherawat to play a role. “She has worked with Jackie Chan in The Myth and she is an interesting actor to work with.” Sherawat suggested that Paravoor use Kalaripayattu (the mar-tial artformpractisedin Kerala)forhisnext film. “She was telling me how interested Chan is in our martial arts,” he says.Who knows? Paravoor might even get Chan to try Kalaripayattu on the sands of Kerala in his next film.
