Mollywood renews its love for biopics

Despite Malayalam cinema being heralded for its rooted-to-reality tales, the industry has been slow to board the biopic bandwagon. However, that’s set to change with at least six films based on the lives of real-life personalities coming up, which are in various stages of production.
Top stars such as Prithviraj, Dulquer Salmaan, Nivin Pauly, Manju Warrier and Jayasurya would be seen playing freedom fighter Velu Thampi Dalawa, Kerala’s most wanted criminal Sukumara Kurup, famed highwayman Kayamkulam Kochunni, iconic writer Madhavikutty and former Indian football captain VP Sathyan, respectively.
It’s not a sudden shift to biopics in Malayalam as the film industry has had movies centred on prominent personalities such as Kunjali Marakkar, Perumthachan, Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Pazhassi Raja, Sree Narayana Guru and Raja Ravi Varma. However, veteran directors who have tackled such films in the past and those having their first crack at them, unanimously agree that “a biopic is a different kind of beast”. We find out the challenges involved and why Malayalam has renewed its love for biopics:
Higher budgets are possible now
Director Kamal, who helmed Celluloid, a film on the father of Malayalam cinema JC Daniel, and is currently working on Madhavikutty’s biopic Aami, says that bigger budgets have given the filmmakers the confidence to take on the task.
“The biggest challenge is to recreate the period in which the biopic is set. Earlier we could rely only on studio floors but now with CGI, that process has become easier,” he says. “Also, Bollywood doing such films and reaping rewards in the box office has inspired a lot of Malayali filmmakers to pursue such stories with the support of their producers.”
Another reason for the spurt in biographical films is the rising interest in true stories. Director Prajesh Sen, who is helming V P Sathyan’s biopic Captain, says, “People today are interested in reading about the lives of personalities — their successes and failures. Also, they are open to something new and that’s the space biopics will fill.”
Meanwhile, Kayamkulam Kochunni scriptwriter Sanjay, who wrote the film with his brother Bobby, had earlier told us that the State has a host of real-life personalities whose lives were nothing short of heroic. “Our younger generation is clueless about the legendary heroes who actually lived in Kerala. The Aithihyamala has several such magnificent characters and we want to introduce these heroes to the youth,” he said.
On why Mollywood has been late to the party, Prajesh, who worked as a journalist for 10 years, says, “Malayalis have always had a problem accepting someone else’s success. For instance, if PT Usha was born in any other State, they would have made her biopic a decade ago.”
Makers open to years of painstaking research
It’s no secret that a biopic entails research — years of meticulous work to understand the person of interest, his or her spheres of influence and the setting. Director Lenin Rajendran, who directed two biopics Swathi Thirunal and Makaramanju, says, “With such films, the devil’s in the details. Biopics are not just about guising the actor in makeup and filming. It’s about the groundwork that goes into understanding the psyche of the character as well as every aspect of the props and even the language spoken during the time.”
Concurring with the view, Kamal, who put in at least two years each for his biopics, says that the type of research for each film varies. “For Celluloid, my challenge was to unearth any and all information on JC Daniel as it was not readily available. But for Aami, people are familiar with Madhavikutty and have their own interpretations about the person she was. The task I set for myself was to find the Madhavikutty I had in mind. For that I read literature written by her, about her and talked to people who knew her,” says the director, who also scripted both films.
Extensive research adds layers not just to the character but also helps flesh out parallel narratives based on the period the biopic is set. Sanjay, who put in months of research for Kayamkulam Kochunni set in the 1900s, says, “We found that poverty was widespread during the time. Also, the caste system propagated unbelievable cruelty and Kochunni fought against those evils.”
Focusing only on what’s needed
A birth-to-death biopic might not just be tedious to watch but difficult to make as well, and one way of tackling this issue is to keep the story focused, says Lenin. “The job becomes more straightforward when you know that you are doing a film based on the personality’s social, personal or spiritual life. For Swathi Thirunal, I focused on the spiritual conflicts of the man and then included only those characters that existed in that sphere of influence. Similarly, Makaramanju focused on the inner conflicts of Raja Ravi Varma,” he says.
This strategy seems to be what directors Rajeev Ravi and Srinath Rajendran of upcoming biopics on theatre artiste NN Pillai and Sukumara Kurup, respectively, have opted for too. For the former, Rajeev would be focusing only on Pillai’s phase as a young soldier in INA and his early theatre days. Meanwhile, Srinath had earlier told us that his movie would be about “the side (of the notorious criminal) that Malayalis don’t know about”.
Having said that, filmmakers agree that a certain degree of fiction is also essential to make the biopic appealing. “Through a feature film, we are always narrating a story and fictional elements are inevitable. That’s left to the director’s liberty. However, you have to be careful not to introduce so much of it that it deviates from the actual story,” says Kamal.
Casting is key
Once the research is done, the next vital step is casting — which again is a steep climb, say the directors. “You can always go the route that Richard Attenborough took when he made Gandhi. He chose actors who resembled their real-life counterparts and were also brilliant performers,” Kamal says.
The filmmaker had leeway for Celluloid as JC Daniel was not a well-known face. “Even then I made sure Prithviraj resembled him,” says the director. “However, it wasn’t as easy casting for Madhavikutty because people know how she looks, talks and also her body language. If I represented her character differently, they won’t be able to relate to her story.”
Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who cast Mammootty as Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer in Mathilukal, also subscribes to Kamal's view. “The film was about Basheer during the 1940s. We haven’t seen him when he was young but in his writings he described himself as a handsome, well-built and desirable man. He used to wrestle and exercised regularly. So, I could not but cast Mammootty for the role,” says the acclaimed director. “I believe biopics require a good degree of similarity between the real and reel life hero.”
But it’s not just the lead character in a biopic that needs to be a perfect fit, says Lenin. “Most often, people rope in an actor who resembles the protagonist but totally ignore the supporting cast. I believe their likeness is equally important in lending authenticity to the tale.”
Biopics put more pressure on actors
For the actors, what sets biopics apart is that they have to allot a lot more time for proper homework before playing the part, unlike in usual films. Prajesh, for whose movie actor Jayasurya set aside close to seven months, says, “It’s no mean feat. People who knew V P Sathyan closely are still alive and we have to keep them in mind while making the film. We can’t make a mass movie out of a biopic as it is also tribute to the person. So, an artiste will always be nervous about attempting a real-life character.”
The pressure is even more when an established actor is playing an equally well-known figure, says Kamal. “Biopics demand a lot more from the actor as people will have a lot of expectations. These pile on when a talented actress such as Manju Warrier plays Madhavikutty. Naturally, she is under pressure to live up to that,” he says.