THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This Sunday, at the Museum auditorium, four classic films by the great masters of Malayalam cinema will be screened as part of a film festival being organised by the Banner Film Society.The festival will have as its opening film, ‘Nirmalyam’, directed by M T Vasudevan Nair and starring P J Antony, who won the national award for this performance, and Shanta Devi. Winner of the state and national awards for the best film, ‘Nirmalyam’ narrates the story of a temple ‘velichappadu’ (oracle). The ‘velichappadu’ is supposed to be the personification of God. He speaks on behalf of God to the gathering, but his family is passing through extreme poverty. At 12 noon, Aravindan’s film ‘Kummatty’, adapted from a Central Kerala folk tale about a partly mythic and partly real magician, will be screened. Kummatty travels from place to place and entertains children with dancing, singing and performing magic. At one such performance at a village, Kummatty turns a group of children into animals. But one boy, who was changed into a dog, is chased away and misses the moment Kummatty changed the children back to their human form. The dog-boy has to wait a year until Kummatty returns to the village to get back his human form. Aravindan has claimed ‘Kummatty’ to be his personal favourite. The cinematography is by Shaji N Karun. ‘Kummatty’ won the State award for best children’s film. Right after ‘Kummatty’, Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s 1984 film ‘Mukhamukham’ will be screened at 2.30 pm. The film starts in the early 1950s showing Sreedharan, the protagonist, as a very popular Communist leader and trade union activist. He is forced to go underground after his name is associated with the murder of the owner of a tile factory. He is considered to be dead by his party and they even erect a memorial for him. But he makes an unexpected comeback almost 10 years later, after the first Communist ministry gained and lost power in Kerala and after the Communist Party had split. His comeback is first a puzzle and then an embarrassment to his comrades and family. As the disappointment on his new face grows, he is found murdered. The film ends when both the Communist parties jointly celebrate his martyrdom. The film won the 1984 FIPRESCI Award and the national awards for the best director, screenplay, audiography and best feature film in Malayalam. The festival closes at 5 pm with Shaji N Karun’s most memorable film, ‘Piravi’. This 1988 film is known to be based on the story of Rajan, a young man who was allegedly killed in a police camp in Kakkayam.Raghu’s father Raghavan waits endlessly for his son to return. Raghavan takes daily trips to the local bus stop, waiting all day in the hope that Raghu will eventually come home. Raghavan sets out to try and find his son, and he eventually reaches the police headquarters. However, the police pretend not to know about Raghu, or his whereabouts, and furthermore, denies the fact that Raghu was taken into custody. Raghu’s sister eventually comes to the realisation that her brother probably has died as a result of police torture, but hasn’t the heart to tell her father.The film was screened and very well received at many film festivals across the world, bagging at least 31 awards in total, including the Camera d’Or at the Cannes and the Golden Lotus.
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