'Theatre gives opportunity for refinement'

MANGALORE: The people's expectations always rise with films such as Vittorio De Sica's 'The Bicycle Thieves', Satyajit Ray's 'Pather Panchali' or my own 'Garam Hawa.' However, there can not be another 'The Bicycle Thieves', 'Pather Panchali' or even 'Garam Hawa', explained eminent director M S Sathyu, for the simple reason that these films came at the peak of the respective directors and these peaks do not remain forever.
In an informal chat with 'The Times of India' during his trip to promote his latest directorial venture 'Ijjodu' here on Saturday, Sathyu said he does not believe in concept of dream directorial project. "I had read 'Ijjodu' as a story during my student days, and only got the opportunity to direct it now," Sathyu said, adding this project was not a dream venture. But, I used the opportunity of directing this film when the producers approached me," he said.
Did the temptation of directing an outright commercial 'masala' movie ever cross his mind? No was his emphatic reaction. "I just cannot get myself to direct a commercial movie for one has to have a different talent and mind set and also be a little vulgar to do so," he explains. A switch from acting in commercial and art or serious films is a lot easier for actors than directors, who are the creative heads of a film project, he says.
Do film producers dictate terms to him? "In such a scenario, I will never direct films for them," Sathyu says, citing the examples when he rejected offers from eminent producers such as J P Sippy and from promoters of Tribhuvan Films. "They wanted a particular actor in the lead role, something that I disagreed with for the subject given to me," he says, adding that he had a better choice of actor who would suit the subject on hand.
"Critics do not bother me," Sathyu averred. "It is only when they do not understand the film and criticize it for the sake of filling up columns is when I get irritated the most," Sathyu said. "A reviewer must be prepared for a serious review of the film on hand firstly, and also be interested in watching and reviewing serious art films as well. Reviewing commercial and art films may not be everyone's cup of tea," Sathyu opined.
Theatre presents a more vivid and difficult challenge than film-making. Sathyu who picked up lot of Bertolt Brecht's theatre skills from his wife during his 2-1/2 months' stay in Germany in the early 1960s, says: "The only difference in the two forms is that theatre gives opportunity for refinement, which is a costly and time consuming affair in cinema. One is left with feelings of what could have been once a film is released," he adds.