Director Kamal: I never said my film will have Madhavikutty sans sexuality. Aami covers every single aspect of her

Director Kamal has been courting controversies from the day he revealed that he was planning to make a movie on iconoclast writer Madhavikutty, who was given the title ‘The love queen of Malabar’ by Merrily Weisbord. The film made headlines when Bollywood actress Vidya Balan signed the project, later dropped out of it and Manju Warrier was roped in instead.
It did not end there, Malayalis fumed when Kamal was quoted in a recent interview, saying that he was happy that Vidya did not play Aami as “sexuality would have crept in”.Many questioned his movie and wondered how a portrayal of Madhavikutty sans sensuality would make sense, especially when her writings are known for her strong and unapologetic assertion of female sexuality. As the controversies and discussions continue, Kamal joins us for a candid chat:
How did you go about making the film?
I have been a Madhavikutty fan since my school days and had never missed a story or piece written by her. Her autobiography Ente Katha is quite revolutionary. So, when I decided to do the film, I contemplated on how to approach her character, a complex one.
She had many stages in her life — her marital life followed by a life of loneliness and then her conversion to Islam. All through her personal life, she had bold opinions on women’s sexuality. Apart from unravelling Madhavikutty the woman, there is one more aspect that needs to be explored, Madhavikutty the literary figure. Her writings were confessional in nature and the pinch of nostalgia that was present in all her works, especially in her Indian-English writings, made her a renowned figure across the globe.
So to begin with, I read all her books all over again. Then I did an in-depth research on what others thought about her. For that I considered people who were close to her and spoke to her three children, her younger sister Dr Sulochana Nalappatt, her close friends and writers and people related to her in different ways. I also incorporated my own views of her. It all began in 2013 and after two years of research, I could complete the script in 2016, in no time.
I have taken cinematic liberties in writing it. Though it is a biopic, I would like to make it clear that it is not a documentary. It is not the real life of Madhavikutty but a fictional adaptation. People who are very close to her may have differences of opinion. But this is my film.
Is it justified to fictionalise the character while making a biopic?
Yes. It is possible in a creative scenario. If we consider Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi — he has fictionally adapted the story of Gandhi. The biopic of JC Daniel, Celluloid, too is a fictional adaptation. However, in Aami, I haven’t deviated from any important incidents in Madhavikutty’s life. I have not mixed my imagination in them. But there are some areas of her life which none of us know about and that’s where I have used my creative freedom.
Are you prepared to face the controversies that the movie might trigger as it is Madhavikutty’s biopic?
Madhavikutty herself was a topic of discussion throughout her life, so controversies will definitely be there. If controversies happen, we will have to face it. There are still a lot of rumours on her conversion and the reasons for it. We have heard many stories but none of us know what exactly happened. Also, we know about her relationship with her husband only through her words.
I have used my creative freedom there and I believe as a filmmaker I have the liberty to do it.
If someone has the freedom to write about Madhavikutty, a filmmaker has the freedom to make a film too on her. I have gone through the legal side. I have bought the rights from her custodians — her children and have taken their permission.
In your perception, how has Manju Warrier given life to Madhavikutty?
Manju has become Madhavikutty cent per cent in all aspects — be it in performance or appearance. She has got into the character and has given her best beyond my imagination. Our team believes she has done justice to the character. I am completely satisfied. I had confidence in her and that is why I roped her in, shot the film and it is now set to release. According to me, a director’s say on a film ends the day it reaches the audience. Now, let the audience decide whether Manju was able to perform the Madhavikutty they have imagined or not.
While making a biopic, is it necessary that the actor portraying the character needs to have resemblance with the real person?
It depends on what’s in our mind. If we really want structural and facial similarities with the real person, we should find an actor like that. For example, Gandhi was enacted by Ben Kingsley who has likeness to Mahatma Gandhi. They were lucky to get a great actor with resemblance. Of course there are many around us who looks like Gandhi. Sometimes we do not think of looks but the portrayal.
Was it star value that made you zero in on Manju?
It’s not just her star value. Along with it, her proven potential as an actor gave me the confidence to visualise her as Madhavikutty. We have portrayed different stages of her life and only a talented actor can do it. Before coming to Manju, we tried to cast newbies but weren’t sure if it would work well. I was sure that Manju can get into a complex character like Madhavikutty.
You had said in an interview that if Vidya had played the role, sexuality would have crept in.
The whole thing happened when two statements which were said in two different contexts were put together. One was made while talking about the sexuality of Madhavikutty and the other while mentioning the writer’s innocence. By combining the two, it was interpreted that I have portrayed Madhavikutty in my movie as an innocent village girl. In reality, I had never meant that.
Aami has tried to bring out Madhavikutty, the writer who was the heartthrob of all Malayalis, with all the nuances of her character and persona. It throws light on the innocent Madhavikutty who has all the characteristics of a Malayali who speaks Malayalam fluently and lives as one. At the same time, it also showcases the revolutionary Madhavikutty who dared to talk about the sexual desires and needs of women and questioned the patriarchal mind set of Malayalis, their concepts of morality and hypocrisy.
All I said is as a filmmaker, if Vidya, who acted in Silk Smitha’s biopic Dirty Picture, had played Aami, I would have got more freedom while portraying the sensual scenes. But Manju has a different image in Kerala and so I had my limitations while portraying those scenes. However, Manju, who has already proved that she can play characters with sexual undercurrents in films like Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu, has performed every scene without losing the emotional aspect of the character, that too with ease.
Post the controversy, many even doubted if Aami will have Madhavikutty sans sexuality.
I have never said so. It cannot happen. My movie will have everything of Madhavikutty. The movie has her as how Malayalis have perceived through what we have read, heard and spoken about.
However, it is very important to understand that Aami is not the adaptation of Madhavikutty’s book Ente Katha. The movie has the Madhavikutty portrayed in her autobiography as well as the Madhavikutty who has written it.
We all know that there is an autobiographical element in Ente Katha. However, there is also a Madhavikutty who wrote it and later divulged that Ente Katha has a lot of fantasy incorporated in it. So, it explores both, and the viewers should watch it staying out of Ente Katha.
The ideology of the film has been under suspicion ever since Vidya dropped out. Some even doubted that ‘Kamal aka Kamaluddin’ might add his politics while picturising the final years of Madhavikutty. How challenging was it for you to shoot it?
It was very challenging and the entire set of controversies was created for reasons unknown to me. I cannot say if that was the reason why Vidya dropped out. Only she can answer that and I believe she will say it at some point in her life. All Vidya told me was, “I am not comfortable”. I have no idea what the reason was. She said that when there were only five more days left for the shoot.
The answers to the questions whether it was fair for a professional to back out at the last moment and why she had done it would say it all. Now, that the movie is ready, let the thoughts and allegations surface. We will face it.
Were you pained that people started judging the movie, even before it was released?
It is the flip side of the social media era. And it is having an adverse effect on creative people, especially filmmakers. People make judgments listening to half-baked information. The prejudices and biases are born even before finding out what the reality is. On the other side, I have accepted that Aami will have to face some controversies as it deals with a very sensitive topic. As it has already created a few discussions, it will be scrutinised more. All I want to say is, watch the movie without prejudices.