‘He did to films what ONV did to poetry’

KOCHI: M Mukundan was aghast when he came to know that lanky Raghuvaran would play the protagonist in the screen adaptation of his novel Daivathinte Vikrithikal. The Alphons Achan of his imagination was a hefty man who lived by magic in Mahe, the recently abandoned French colony. The novel was being filmed by his long-time friend with whom he bonded over cups of coffee and mugs of beer in Delhi, but this was too much, felt Mukundan. “I fought with him over it but he didn’t budge. My heart would not sit still until I watched the film. And the performance by Raghuvaran was mesmerising. He would have won the national award that year but for last-minute sabotage. I am indebted to him because of the film,” said Mukundan. It won the state award for best film in 1992.


They had several creative quarrels over the way his text was being treated in the film. “Many things had to be dropped and I had doubts about the film’s ability to portray what I wrote. But he was a firm believer in the idea that anything is possible in cinema,” said Mukundan, who associated with Rajendran to write the scene order and the dialogues.

Rajendran had expressed his wish to adapt

Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil

into a film but Mukundan did not agree to it. “It’s an epic canvas and cannot be made into a film easily and I said no,” he said. But he was ready to do another film and suggested working on an original story with Mahe as the backdrop but unfortunately, that did not work out. “I never thought he would leave so early. But I think people in film field have shorter lives compared to writers,” he said.

Film critic C S Venketeswaran feels that Lenin Rajendran would be remembered for blending a progressive outlook and romanticism in his films. “He did to films what ONV achieved in poetry combining progressive ideas with lyricism. Music had a very important role in his films,” said Venketeswaran.

Rajendran started his film career assisting P A Backer and debuted with Venal starring Sukumaran and Jalaja in 1981. His 1983 film Premnazeerine Kanmanilla in which actor Prem Nazeer played himself – a film star abducted by political extremists - was noted for its freshness. The first recognition came in 1987 when Swathi Thirunal, bagged a Kerala state special jury award.

In 1996, Kulam won him the award for best film with popular appeal and aesthetic value. He won the award for best director for Rathri Mazha in 2006. Makaramanju won him the second-best film in 2010. In 1989 and 1991, he had contested Lok Sabha election as CPM candidate from Ottappalam against K R Narayanan but failed. Rajendran leaves behind wife Dr Ramani and children Parvathy and Gouthaman.