Celluloid

---

Who?

My name is J C Daniel.

OK.

l'd written a letter to Mr Phalke

and l got a reply from him.

Can l meet Mr Phalke?

Please come in.

HORIZON:

Yes? l am Phalke.

lt's a great

privilege to meet you, sir,

the pioneer of lndian cinema.

Please be seated.

Come, sit.

- Thank you, sir.

l am J C Daniel. l've

come from Travancore,

the southern part of lndia

OK.

How can l help you?

Sir, l want to make a motion picture.

How much do you know

about motion pictures?

Not much, sir, but for

the past two years...

l've only been dreaming of cinema.

l've gone through books, articles...

l really want to know

more about this art, sir.

lt's not easy.

l understand, sir.

But can you help me?

Sorry, Mr Daniel, right now

l'm busy with my shooting.

You can contact

me some other time.

Sir, if it's not too much trouble,

can l watch your shooting now?

Usually, we do not allow

anybody to enter the shooting place.

But you've come a long way.

Come.

Thank you, sir.

HORIZON:

Mother.

This is film.

The white man calls it 'celluloid.'

Rememberthe day you took me

to 'Capitol' to see the movie...?

l asked you how the people moved?

That's the technique of movies.

When the Lumiere Brothers first

screened their cinema in Paris...

people ran for their lives,

thinking the moving train was real.

Janet, cinema is a wonder.

That's what we're going to make.

Somehow, l don't feel confident.

Have you really studied it?

Yeah, l have been studying it.

Thirty years have passed

since films were shot in...

- Europe and America.

Fifteen years back,

Dundiraj Govind Phalke

made a movie in Bombay.

ln Madras, Nataraj Muthaliyar and

others have made films in Tamil.

To this day, no one in Travancore

and Cochin has been able to do it.

That is what this J C

Daniel is going to make.

You wait and see.

Your J C Daniel will become

Malayalam's first film maker.

May God help you.

But then, won't you

need lots of cash?

Certainly.

Have to buy a camera and other

equipment, hire actors and crew.

Will require about a lakh.

Then you can just lie on

your back looking at the sky...

and hope angels rain you with cash.

l'm going to sell our property

at Neyyattinkara and ...

-Agastheeshwaram.

Didn't you sell part of it

for your timber business?

Mother won't allow it again.

lt's Papa's share of

ancestral property.

Your brothers also will not allow.

Whoever agrees or

disagrees... l have already decided.

Won't you agree?

This is my great dream.

lt's when we dream a lot

that one of them comes true.

l am willing to

sacrifice my life for you, Lord.

No, Peter.

l am telling the truth to

you and to your friends.

Surely, this night before

the rooster crows, ...

- you will deny me thrice.

No, Lord, l will never deny you.

lf l have to die with you,

l will not deny you.

lt's a play for the church feast,

'The Life of Christ.'

lt's a long time

since l saw you, Daniel.

l was on tour.

This is Sundara Rajan, my relative,

Dr Mathias' nephew.

Owns three four shops in the Chala.

l am Johnson. Have we met before?

Your face looks familiar.

You had a play at Chala last April.

Didn't you keep

your props in my shop?

l had told you then that you

excelled as John the Baptist.

That's it. Now l remember.

So, Daniel, how are things?

Hurry with your rehearsal.

l have a certain matter with you.

My God, make a film!

Only Englishmen know it.

ls it a job meant for us?

Why can't we?

l've come from Bombay and Madras

after seeing and understanding it.

lt is not like staging a play.

lt uses camera

and other equipments.

What do you say about it?

l too had doubts when

l first heard about it.

But then Daniel convinced

me that if the Hindi people

and Tamil people can

do it, why not us?

We can, Johnson.

Both of you should be with me.

Think it through. lt's

an expensive affair.

Not like staging the 'Life of Christ.'

Once l decide,

there's no going back.

You know how l am.

What Papa got as his share,

and what's in Janet's

name will exceed 100 acres...

- of palm groves,

homesteads and fields.

lf it's 1000 British

'Chakras' for an acre,

l will get a minimum of one lakh.

As soon as the cash comes in,

l will start, my dear Johnson...

Travancore's first motion picture.

Someone has come to

see you from Travancore.

Who?

Don't know. But he's been

waiting for quite a while.

Tell him there's no role right now.

lt's not that. lt's about

some production matters.

What production-criduction?

Hello sir.

Where did you get that Krishna?

Good-for-nothing!

Hello sir.

Hey director, who is Krishnan,

who is Kuchelan?

The person acting God

must have the looks.

He greets me even as he acts.

How can the film be good?

Take one more.

- Ok.

What shall l tell that person?

Ask him to come.

- Ok.

Good morning sir.

Okay.

Do you know Tamil?

Yes.

Then speak in Tamil.

l had come here a few days back,

but couldn't meet you, sir.

Come to the subject.

l am coming from Travancore.

l have hopes about cinema.

l want to make a movie.

What should l do? What

equipment should l buy?

What will be the budget?

l have come in orderto

know all about it from you.

Do you have the money? You

will have to spend a lot.

Yes sir. l have enough money.

Cinema is not vegetable business.

lt is for those who know about it.

l know a little.

Perumal, take this

person to the manager.

Tell him to give the

information he needs.

ls it okay?

- Thank you sir.

Sir, can l also talk to your

cinematographer Mr. William Derek?

When you talk about an Engishman,

you can't talk in Tamil?

You can talk to him

during the lunch break.

Come on, have some.

Thank you.

Here and in Bombay

we use Debri cameras.

ln Hollywood...

they have introduced

- an advanced

version of this Debri...

but it is not available here.

So, where can l get a camera from?

You can get it directly from London,

or you may go to Calcutta.

There is my colleague Mr Samuel

John who has a photography shop.

He can help you get the camera

and the accessories as well.

l have a request.

Could you wield the

camera for my film?

Oh sorry.

l am going back to London

after finishing this film.

Mr Samuel John will help you

find some other cinematographer.

All right. Thank you, sir.

ls it true that you are going

to make a movie, Daniel sir?.

True. lsn't it why l

became your disciple?

l just know how to run this film,

but l have no idea about the

technique behind making one.

When are you starting?

The camera and the

film have all been booked.

Will start as soon as they arrive.

Make a movie like this, Daniel sir.

Fed up with the Raman

andHanuman movies ...

- from Bombay and Madras

True... No mythology.

l must make my own story...

a social drama like this.

When l went to Bombay,

l saw this movie at

the Coronation theatre

l saw it here on the

release day as well.

Can't see enough of it, right?

Yes... Yes.

His name is Charlie Chaplin.

ln America, he draws more

crowds than the President.

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