It has been 13 years since AK Lohitadas handed away, thought-about the most effective screenwriters in Malayalam cinema. June 28 was the anniversary of AK Lohitadas’ demise and I stored excited about him. How shortly time passes! I’m positive that to at the present time it holds an essential place within the hearts of all Malayalee moviegoers. Though we can’t bear in mind everybody who has left us, there are some uncommon people who find themselves all the time in our reminiscence for his or her overwhelming kindness. Lohitadas was a type of folks.
Though he did not have many buddies within the trade, there have been a handful of buddies that he treasured, who stood by him via his good and dangerous days, and had been his best treasures. She knew who to maintain at a distance and who to belief. Even throughout his final days, she stored them in the dead of night about his illnesses.
It was surprising to listen to that he didn’t even inform his spouse and kids about his deteriorating well being.
How did this occur hastily?
His writing course of was fascinating. She would lock herself in a room for days, cowl her head with a material, recite the dialogues and write her experiences on paper. Director Sibi Malayil as soon as informed me that a few of her greatest work got here out of an area of maximum psychological stress. That was additionally one of many causes behind her premature demise.
Lohitadas debuted in cinema in 1987, this was 6 or 7 years after I got here to Malayalam cinema. Though it was Thilakan who launched it to Malayalam cinema, I wish to assume that I additionally performed a small position in bringing it to the cinema. In 1986, once I was getting ready to go to Mata Vacationer Residence, I acquired a name from Sevichan of Vijaya Films.
“Dennis, yesterday we heard a narrative written by a brand new man. The story is gorgeous, why do not you hearken to it too? Should you appreciated it, we’ll purchase it for you. If you’re not too busy, are you able to come to the workplace at 11 am?”
I took a minute to assume. I used to be placing collectively Joshiy’s ‘January Oru Orma’ within the order of the scenes. However I can not deny such request as I had written Vijay Films productions like ‘Kottinilam Kili’ and ‘Oru Nokku Kaanan’. And so they had additionally given the advance to write down a brand new film. I used to be nonetheless within the strategy of discovering a narrative when this name got here via. We agreed to fulfill at 11 am.
After I walked down in entrance of the Vijaya Films workplace in Pullepadi, I noticed a barely cumbersome man with an extended beard and hair who had stuffed a newspaper below his arm. Seeing me, he confirmed an ungainly smile. Ready for me within the workplace had been Vijaya’s movie producers, Babu Xavier, Savichan and Joli. Since his father Xavier, sir, had heard the story, he did not present up. They despatched the peon to name the younger man.
The very first thing I seen was a glance of indifference on his face. They supplied him a chair subsequent to me. “Do not you recognize Kaloor Dennis? He has written the script for many of our motion pictures.”
He checked out me and nodded.
“That is the brand new screenwriter Lohitakshan. He has written performs.
I smiled at him. However though he needed to return that smile, he appeared too keen. Maybe he was fearful concerning the consequence of this assembly.
“Okay, let’s not waste any extra time. Lohitakshan, inform that story to Dennis.
He took his time telling the story. However his narrative was completely different. She narrated it with out frills.
It was a household factor. On the time she was additionally writing principally about household matters. The story was about marital discord. I appreciated. There was one thing new about it. However in direction of the climax, I felt prefer it had a sure similarity to my tremendous hit ‘Sandarbham’. Though the producers additionally had the identical opinion, they didn’t share it with Lohitakshan.
However I discussed that to him. She nodded her head nonchalantly.
“However that is positive. We are able to make some modifications to the climax. Let’s do that story,” I informed everybody.
Babu Xavier instantly handed him a token advance of Rs 1,000 and mentioned, “Maintain this. After he comes again with a rewritten climax, and if it goes nicely, we will repair his compensation.”
He pocketed that cash. Throughout that point, that is essentially the most a screenwriter was given as an advance. And his fee didn’t exceed 5,000 rupees.
He sat there for a couple of minutes after which left promising to return in per week with a rewritten climax. We sat there for a while and mentioned the casting. Mammootty and Shobana had been completed.
Earlier than I left they gave me an advance. Since I used to be fairly busy throughout these days, I agreed to write down a script earlier than the capturing of ‘January Oru Orma’.
However Lohitakshan didn’t seem with the promised rewritten climax even after 2 weeks. We had no quantity to contact him. Though there was a suggestion to go to Chalakudy to fulfill him, it in some way did not occur. Finally, that undertaking was shelved because of numerous causes, together with Mammootty’s date points.
It took one other Four-5 months for AK Lohitadas to make a comeback, however this time as a screenwriter for Sibi Malayil’s ‘Thaniyavarthanam’. He had a cool story. Lohitadas was additionally making Sibi Malayil’s subsequent movie. Since Mammootty was the hero of each motion pictures, luck appears to be favoring the younger man.
When the brand new theme was mentioned, though Lohi talked about that it was a narrative she had informed Vijaya Films, after Mammootty claimed that that they had scrapped the undertaking, Lohitadas determined to make the movie for Sibi Malayil. That film was referred to as ‘Vicharana’.
Through the time of its launch, Vijaya Films threatened to file a lawsuit towards Lohitadas. They had been livid that he would go forward with a undertaking with out consulting them and even bothering to repay the advance quantity. Since he was a newcomer, he was not conscious of such authorized issues. Though they demanded a sum larger than the quantity of the advance, issues had been lastly resolved after Mammootty’s intervention.
Lohitadas went on to turn into an irreplaceable presence in Malayalam cinema with movies like ‘Kireedom’, ‘Chenkol’, ‘Bharatham’, ‘Mrigaya’, ‘Amaram’, ‘Kamaladalam’, ‘Sallapam’, ‘Kauravar’ and ‘Veendum Chila Veetu ‘Karyangal’.
In 1997 he turned a director with ‘Bhoothakkanadi’. That movie received that yr’s state award for greatest screenplay. Lohitadas turned essentially the most celebrated screenwriter in Malayalam cinema.
After that first assembly, though we by no means actually received collectively, we used to fulfill sometimes at MACTA conferences and change notes. I final met Lohi on the 2007 MACTA protest assembly. That was my first go to after amputating my leg. I used to be resting on the BTH Resort when administrators Kamal, Sibi Malayil and Lohitadas got here to fulfill me. Lohi got here and sat on my mattress. He sat quietly for a while and checked out me. I felt that his thoughts was in chaos.
“I heard every thing.” They had been as smooth and shifting because the phrases she would write for his motion pictures. In the present day Lohi shouldn’t be with us and I think about it a macabre joke of God. He made stars out of fireflies and his life is a lesson to all artists concerning the significance of sheer expertise, luck and perseverance.
I heard that he was going via loads of emotional trauma throughout his final days. I do not assume she’s somebody who can reside with out the remnants of the previous. “When he was alive there have been so many individuals who criticized me and harm me emotionally. Everybody will acknowledge the artist in me after my demise,” he had mentioned.
