Shyamaprasad is one of the most esteemed Malayalam directors in the industry who has the penchant of making good films. He bagged the National award, Gullupudi Srinivas Memorial award and Aravindan Puraskaram for the best regional film in 1998 for his debut film ‘Agnisakshi’ with Rajat Kapur and Shobhana in the lead roles. His last film ‘Akale’ also won several awards. He also made an English film titled ‘Bokshu the Myth’ with Irfan Khan, Nandana Sen and Heather Prete. His next ‘Ore Kadal’ is also based on his penchant of making films out of novel. Mammootty, Meera Jasmine, Narain and Ramya Krishnan are in the lead of the film based on ‘Hirak Deepthi’ by Sunil Gangopadhyay and is all set for an Onam release on August 26.
 
Excerpts from an Interview:

How did you come upon the novel Hirak Deepthi by Sunil Gangopadhyay to translate it into screen as Ore Kadal?

Somebody suggested that I read the novel and I got my hands on the Malayalam translation. I found that the book was my kind of story. The story deals with the right and wrong of relationships and certain crisis that develops out of relationships. It was written in the 1970s. I got attracted to the moral, ethical, emotional issues. I immediately felt like making the film when I read the story.

Can you just highlight what is Ore Kadal all about?

The film is based on Bengali writer Sunil Gangopadhya’s classic Heerak Deepti, a love story set in a very intense and difficult situation. It is basically a love triangle of the sixties in Kolkata. The protagonists discover love under very difficult situations. Other than time and place the film is about universal human situations. I think it is a timeless issue and we can see its reflection in various stylistic frameworks. The film is about the story of a man who is in search of true love. The film is a very intimate study of man- woman relationship set in modern times.

Can you just elaborate further?

Dr. S.R. Nathan is an internationally acclaimed economist. He is a thinker and he is researching on fiscal and economic matters and developments and travels around the world. Though he has name and fame and is an intellectual of high class, he is basically a loner and an alcoholic. He doesn’t pay any heed to the way he dresses and ends up looking shabby. In strange circumstance he meets Deepthi who is married to Narain. She is a middle class housewife who lives in the same apartment complex. There develops a relationship between the husband and wife and the economist. She is a married woman with a child but he doesn't believe in marriage or love. Their relationship changes their outlook on life. Frankly they made love and then found love. What happens to this man and woman is the story

The story leads from a physical relationship to emotional one.

One happens due to the other, one leading the other. It is a very intense love story where the mind gets involved at last. Deepti’s married life is neither happy nor sad. She is in pangs of the ordinariness of every middle class marriage. The dullness makes her to look out for something else. The hardship in her marital life is not evident. May be there is monotony there. Ore Kadal is the story of a man who changes in love. He rejects love, tenderness and commitment, and then he runs after them.

How did you set the story of 1960s Calcutta to Kerala?

It was easy to transport. The characters in my film are not Malayalis of Kerala. It is more of an Indian film made in Malayalam. There is no particular setting, everything happens in the backdrop of urban milieu with two people speaking Malayalam meet and become lovers. It is just a language used for their mode of communication.

Does the sixties economic situation has any role to play in the film?

There is certainly a link. The film has a crucial issue of poverty. It is basically the economic situation and class divide that leads the lovers but their relationship goes beyond that. Economics meet philosophy with the economist taking interest in the woman primarily as a case study. But then he gets entangled because human being cannot be treated as a case study.

Does the complex human relationships makes this the toughest film of your career?

Nothing such however the practical conditions of making the film was tough. I had to handle big stars like Mammootty and Meera Jasmine in the film. I felt like having lesser-known actors at times. It was their desire to do something different that kept me going. I wanted Dr Nathan wandering in the streets at night and travelling in a night train, which is not possible with Mammootty as the actor. But crowd used to gather round him. I couldn’t shoot Meera at market place. When you work with big stars you cannot create real ambience.

Were both these actors crucial to the film?

This is an actor-oriented film and I need strong actors to perform. I wanted the film to do good business and I needed big actors for that. Mammootty is the winner of three national awards and Meera Jasmine of one and they both are undoubtedly the finest actors of the country. Narain and Ramya Krishnan are also excellent actors. Ramya plays Bela, a socialite, a friend and soul mate of Dr Nathan, a perfect picture of urban India. She was raped when she was 15 and had led a tough life and had a series of lovers. She has become wiser and cynical because of that. She is also sensitive to human suffering, love and pain. Deepti and Bela are two contrasting characters in Dr Nathan’s life. Narain's character is the simplest one.

Aren’t you worried about the commercial prospect of the film?

My film caters to a different audience and I am aware but not worried. Things are changing today. I feel if you tell a story, which is visually impressive and emotionally engaging and powerful, and which people can relate to they’ll definitely come to the theatres to watch it.