By now, the world has been speaking with concern about Cape Town and its Day Zero, when municipal water supply would cease. It is predicted that the next World War would be waged over water.
In India, inter-State water disputes are not new. And, filmmaker MA Nishad tries to throw the spotlight on water, borders and people in his Tamil-Malayalam bilingual Keni (Kinaru in Malayalam).
In an exclusive phone-in interview to Silverscreen, Nishad speaks about his career, the social angle to his films and why it is important to be humane.
Nishad’s earlier works have also highlighted sensitive topics, and he says this film is both sensitive and emotional. “I was able to mix a social thought with emotion here.”
Among his other movies in Malayalam, Vairam and No.66 Madhura Bus spoke about the plight of women in a misogynistic world and he says that “this film too, speaks through women, and is female-oriented cinema (sthreepaksha cinema)”.
Stating that this film is unlike anything else he’s made, Nishad explains: “My 2006 movie Pakal with Prithviraj in the lead, spoke about a similar topic, but it was an off-beat film. Here, I had to add some commercial elements, but the germ of my films is the same – speak about an issue concerning people.”
Filmmakers who work on a multi-star film end up dealing with as many egos. This film has a galaxy of stars such as Jayaprada, Revathi, Rekha, Anu Hasan and Parthiban, but Nishad says that “working with a majority of women was an experience to cherish rather than a challenge”.
Recommended
And, this learning is something he holds close to his heart. “I take movies very seriously and am an avid watcher of cinema. Each day of filming brought with it a different experience…”
Like every other filmmaker, Nishad too has his own set of ideologies when it comes to cinema. “I believe I can’t bring about a sudden change in the mindset and actions of people, but I can make them aware of what’s going around. But cinema is not always about bringing in change, affecting people or alerting them.”
Nishad hopes to dabble in different genres too. His next film, he says, will be vastly different from Keni.