'Training must for budding filmmakers to survive in industry'; Adoor Gopalakrishnan clears air on conclave row

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ace film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan shrugged off reports that he insulted scheduled caste filmmakers during his speech at the film conclave held the other day. Adoor Gopalakrishnan, while responding to the matter today, alleged his words were misconstrued while he intended to help filmmakers from backwards classes to rise in ranks.

Adoor:

"You should learn to walk before you run. You should learn the words before preparing yourself to write a poem. The same applies to a movie. The Minister does not have a clue how a movie works, but I do. I come with more than 60 years of experience in this field. One cannot be a filmmaker overnight. It requires perseverance and understanding of the medium in detail.

Lenses, editing, preproduction, and money management. These are vital elements of filmmaking, and one should master these knacks. A three-month training for budding filmmakers will not chisel out the filmmakers in them, but at least they will get a basic idea of how things work. The government gives grants to the backwards classes and women filmmakers without much inspection into their ability. These people will exhaust the money to complete one movie in haste and then disappear from the field. New filmmakers must carve a niche rather than disappear after one movie. If they are given the necessary training, they will gain the confidence and knowledge to work in this field later. Training should be given to those who are paid by the government.

It is not an insult to anyone. I have the know-how of how things work in movies. Some people consider a script alone to be sufficient to create a movie. It is a dumb concept that still got many takers. Script alone doesn’t make a movie. Allowing Rs one crore for new filmmakers is appreciable from the government. It is public money and filmmakers should take onus to use it wisely to complete the movie within this budget."

Meanwhile, the SC-ST Commission asked the Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner to submit an investigation report within 10 days on the complaint that Adoor made an abusive speech. The Commission's intervention was based on a complaint filed by social activist Dinu Veyil.

Dinu Veyil also filed a complaint with the Museum Police demanding that a case be registered under the SC-ST Act.

Adoor also reacted to the protest by Sangeet Natak Akademi Vice Chairperson and singer Pushpavathy Poypadathu, who stood up and interrupted while Adoor was speaking at the Cinema Conclave.

“What right does she have to interrupt my speech? She got publicity by interrupting while I was speaking. What right does she have to come to the program? I don’t know her, and for me, she is an unknown entity.” Adoor responded.

I have been in the playback singing field for a quarter of a century, and like Adoor, I have the freedom to express my opinion. I stood up and raised my voice when I was sure that nobody among the crowd would do so,” responded Pushpavathy.

Minister VN Vasavan too dismissed any malicious intent in Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s speech. The minister also alleged that this was distorted and made controversial by the media.