EJJI IN MOVIES

I am not a professional actor. Like my life in theatre, it was something different that I wanted to try. I did not do any film for a fee. Whenever a fee was paid, I gave it to a charity that the producer recommended.

AAYUDHA EZHUTHU (Tamil feature film)

Mani Ratnam's "Aayudha Ezhuthu" was my first film role. A small cameo appearance, I act as the principal of a college where the lead actors study. It was a pleasure being on the sets with Mani, though I know him more as the brother of my good friend (late) G.Venkateswaran (GV). For the first time in my life, I saw a film being made. It was a different experience, having been used to stage acting. Mani emphasizes the fact that he wants everything to be natural. No "acting" for him. He asks you to just imagine how that scene would happen in real life. His forte is to make things happen on the screen that the viewer will intrinsically identify to be an every day happening. So different from the run of the mill movies made in India, where artificiality is the essence of good acting.

NAVARASA (Tamil feature film) - NINE EMOTIONS (English version)

My next experience was after I was introduced to Santosh Sivan. Santosh I found was a very unassuming person, whose fame sits lightly on his shoulders. A loner, who shuns media attention (and is uncomfortable when attention is poured on him), a non-conformist, keen observer of human behavior, he found my "tangential thinking" and my theory that "normal is boring" to be the only admirable things in me. He had researched thoroughly on the third gender and was making "Navarasa" on the subject. He heard about my making a home video on the Koovagam Festival some years ago. He saw my non-professional video film, and gave me a good role in his movie. Shooting with Santosh was fun. A person who, in spite of his exalted knowledge of filmmaking, would ask anyone and everyone involved with the film for inputs. And he took the best of inputs with no airs, to incorporate in his film. Humility personified! A magician with light and camera angles, he has the uncanny ability to think in his mind what the view finder will capture even before he puts his eye to the view finder. Navarasa turned out to be a very artistic movie. I feel most Indians per se were not mentally tuned to appreciate a classic work of this type. Navarasa was a huge success at most international festivals like Monaco International Film Festival, Lyon Asian Film Festival, France 2005, The Pusan Film Festival 2005, and Rotterdam Film Festival 2005. The elite in India did see and appreciate the movie, though you cannot term it a commercial success in terms of business. Navarasa won the National Award in 2005 for "Best Tamil Feature Film". And in March 2007, it was released in Japan to rave reviews!

BEFORE THE RAINS (English feature film) 

My next film was again a Santosh Sivan film. With the working title "Kerala", Santosh directed it and he was also the cinematographer. It opened a new world for me. Produced by Echo Lake Productions, in the U.S., it was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2007 under the title "Before the Rains". The film stars Linus Roach, Jennifer Eyle, Sir John Standing, Rahul Bose, Nanditha Das and Indrajit. Entirely shot in Munnar (Kerala), it showed how efficiency could be the backbone of a production. A shooting schedule that was so finely tuned to ultimate perfection before the start of the first shot, that it is hard to believe that the shooting ended after two months exactly to the minute as scheduled. A whole tribal village was set up at Munnar, with bridges, temple, public square, river that was partially diverted through the set....... the works. My role is that of Inspector Sampath, the Inspector of Police, Munnar. The story is a murder mystery that happens in Munnar, circa 1934. The two-month schedule was so business-like, with get-togethers every weekend. All the compliments must go to the producers whose grasp of logistics, timing and teamwork was something that can be compared to a space launch by NASA!!

VAAZHKAI INIDHU VAAZHVOM INIDU (Tamil documentary) 

I have done a role in a "Public Service" film on diabetes in Tamil. A short film, it shows that diabetes can be successfully treated, and a diabetic can lead a very healthy life. The story and script was the brainchild of Raaja Chandrasekhar who also collaborated on the screenplay of Navarasa.

m3v (Tamil feature film) 

Hare Krsna, again an associate of Santosh Sivan in Navarasa, directed this film. What a fabulous name. There lies a story behind that name. Check out http://www.m3v.asia/ . The film in Tamil with lots of English, with indoor scenes shot in a century old house in Triplicane, Chennai. The story is about a young boy who dreams of making a film, but is castigated by his father with old time values. Ultimately he succeeds in his efforts, and makes his parents proud. This film is too natural to be called a movie. It is contemporary life. It is like seeing life on a screen. Youth will identify themselves with it the moment the film starts. Undoubtedly it will be a commercial success. Krsna, an old friend of mine is the most "unfilmy" film man I have met. A person far ahead of his times, I have known him since the 1970's! He beats the stereotyping of a film man of Chennai in everything. His looks, attire, education, interests and the person he is.

ANDHA SUMMER LEAVILEY (French & Tamil short film)

The title translates in English to "During that Summer Holiday". This film is the maiden effort of a group of youngster, mostly from the Film institute at Chennai. It is the story of a young girl of Indian origin who lives in France, now visiting her uncle's family in Chennai, India. All actors are first timers and Alphonse Roy, a big name in wild life filmmaking, shot this short film.

MUSIC VIDEO (English)

A music video for a European label was shot with me. Lovely music, a wide age range of actors from a 10-year-old kid to an 80-year-old man. Very modern in character, the music video was a big hit. Part of the shooting was done in the party room in my house in Chennai.