#JC Daniel Award interviewTV Chandran: In today’s situation, it is difficult to freely depict our society

National and State Award-winning director TV Chandran added Malayalam’s highest film honour, the JC Daniel Award, to his list of honours. Minister for Culture Saji Cherian made the announcement yesterday. Speaking to Kochi Times soon after the award was announced, the veteran director of Mammootty films, such as Ponthan Mada, Ormakalundayirikkanam and Dany - all National Award-winning movies- among others, said, “I am elated, of course. This is a great recognition for the entire lifetime I have spent on cinema.”

TV Chandran had no formal training in filmmaking and started out as an actor and assistant in PA Backer's 1975 award-winning Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol, released during the Emergency. But the veteran director says that in today’s political situation, it is more difficult to freely make a film, and even this film would not be made now. “I had lofty notions while making my films. Right now though, I wonder if any cinema can make a difference to the society that we live in. But we can try to make life a little better than what it is. I will continue with that effort, and there are other people too, making that effort,” he says. "I have been planning a film for two or three years, but the moment we try to delve into the situations around it, it is extremely difficult to portray. The expression of an artiste is a big challenge now. I don’t know what to do, but at the same time, I don’t want to do a film which does not reflect the times, so that is my struggle."

Speaking about working with Mammootty, he says, "I love all my films, but at a pinch, if I were made to choose, I’d pick Dany. To me Mammootty is not a superstar, but a friend. We have had a long relationship, and he has appeared in three of my films."

Portraying strong women

TV Chandran has several films, such as Hemavin Kadhalargal, Alicinte Anveshanam, Susanna and Paadam Onnu: Oru Vilapam, Vilapangalkappuram, with strong women characters who, driven by circumstances, fight social and sexual patriarchy, and were ahead of the times. “I have always been fascinated by women, and by strong women at that. The answer to society’s ills is for women to become strong and it is this wish that I have tried to convey through my films. I am happy to see that women today are more outgoing and strong now,” he says.

Actor Priyanka Nair, says, I’ve done three films, Vilapangalkappuram, Bhoomi Malayalam and Pengalila, with Chandran sir and I consider him my guru. I used to be a film festival regular and he used to be considered a legend in those days. He took me on a walk through the tea plantations of Wayanad while narrating the story of our first film together. It was my only such experience of a narration. When we got back from the walk, I became that character. I set my acting standards with my experience of working with him.