Celluloid Page #5

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You have to come from there.

Selvarajan, give

that lamp to Rosamma.

When l get on the

kakkarashi stage...

Asan would ask me

to pray to the Dalit God.

But l always involuntarily make

the sign of the cross...

...and pray to Christ.

lsn't this a movie?

And wasn't the movie first

invented by Christians?

So isn't it enough

if l made the sign of the cross?

Rosamma,

you pray whichever way you want.

What is the matter?

She asked me permission to pray.

Shall we start, Rosamma?

When l say, 'Action,'

you should come from there.

When l say what? Action.

Have you understood? Then move.

Have you finished praying?

lf so, take the lamp

and stand nearthe door.

Go.

Clap.

What is that thing?

Have you understood

everything else?

ln cinema, there are lots of things

that are hard to understand.

Yea yea...

Action.

Come.

Action.

Cut.

How was it, Mr Lala?

- Fine.

Rosamma, you acted well.

Where is Rosamma?

Didn't you call herfor lunch?

Let me look for her.

Bhaskara Anna,

where is Rosamma?

She is over there.

Are you sitting here?

Come inside and eat.

l will sit here.

Are you having just rice gruel?

There is rice inside.

Gruel is enough for me.

Rosamma, what are you doing?

Don't do that.

Your dress will get dirty.

Get up.

You are not the old Rosamma.

You are the heroine of our movie.

Rosamma, from now on, till the

end of the movie, you are not

Rosamma nor are you

of lower caste.

You are a Nair girl.

Don't forget that.

What do you say, Janet?

Rosamma is now one among us.

lsn't it why we have

named her Rosamma now?

What if we modify

Rosamma's name?

Sunder Rajan's brother-in-law's

wife's name is Rosy, isn't it?

Right.

So, why don't we turn

Rosamma into Rosy?

lt is good to call

and good to hear:Rosy.

What do you say, Rosamma?

What is your opinion, Johnson?

Very good, Rosamma has

become totally fashionable.

So shall we start?

As Sarojini stands

in front of her house,

Vishwamohan Thampi...

comes that way.

He is a person who

is trying to court her.

Sarojini doesn't like him.

When Vishwamohan

comes behind you,

Rosamma you should show anger.

lt is Rosy now, not Rosamma.

Yeah, Rosy.

Seeing this,

Jayachandran comes that way.

Vishwamohan does not like...

Jayachandran's arrival.

A quarrel ensues

between the two.Understood?

This is the scene that

we are going to take now.

Our Pillai is Vishwamohan.

Where is Pillai?

He was standing somewhere

around here, clueless.

What are you

doing there,Pillai, come.

Pillai, are you ready to act?

- Yea

Like l told you, Pillai,

when you see Sarojini, you must smile at

her showing sringara rasa.

Acting sringara to

women is a little tough.

l am used to doing feminine

roles in kathakali.

lf it is the sringara of

women it is a whole lot easier.

But here, it is not a female role.

Vishwamohan is a man, isn't he?

Yea yea... l know

So the sringara expression

of man has to come, isn't it?

When should the sringara come?

When the camera starts,

l will say action. Then.

You will say that thing, won't you?

You should look at Sarojini,

smile...

...then move up to

her and talk to her.

l should talk to her.

What should l talk to her?

She looks very beautiful,you wish

to have a relationship with her...

something like that...

when we see a movie,

we won't hear any dialogues.

lt is not like the drama.

Cinema does not have sound.

Yet we must act as

though we are talking.

lt is said that, in America,

they have invented talking cinema.

But it has not reached our land.

One doubt. lf we cannot hear

the dialogues why do we speak?

lsn't it enough that

l show mudras as in kathakali?

Pillai, have you come to

act or to play the kathakali?

l'll act, but when

we do unaccustomed

...things, won't we have doubts?

So, should l show love

after l reach there,

or should l start from here?

After you reach there.

- Right.

Rosy, your acting was good.

Everyone liked it.

Sundaran is giving wages.

Go, get it.

Rosy, don't stand

at the back. Come.

See Mr Daniel, it is perfect.

The girl looks good.

This girl came and

called me when l was in

- the Chala market selling fish.

Said there was some 'cilima'

shooting taking place...

...and asked me to come along.

When l heard money

was being given,

l came without bothering

about anything else.

So? See now, how a fisherwoman

became a Nair woman!

See how pretty you

look in your attire.

Aren't you a fisherwoman yourself?.

And see what you are wearing.

My husband is dead.

But isn't your husband

out fishing in the sea?

lf he comes to know about this,

he will chop you to

pieces like he chops fish.

ls this a job meant

for women like us?

lsn't it loose women who do this?

Have you come here after

getting the permission

of your father and mother?.

- Yes.

Are you acting as my daughter?.

- Yes.

And you?

-As her friend.

Johnson, does that old hag

- and that girl know anything?

They look odd.

What can we do?

Had to search the whole

land to get these two.

lf they don't fit, change the story.

Make Sarojini's mother a fisherwoman.

Rosy, come.

You also come.

Have you seen the veena before?

Sarojini is playing the

veena in the veranda of the house.

Your mother and friend is

sitting nearby listening to it.

Now Jayachandran comes.

That is the scene

we are going to take now.

Come, Rosy.

Don't spit there, old woman.

You sit here.

You sit on the floor.

Show Rosamma how to hold it

We had one lower

caste woman first,

now we have two more.

Did you only get

these people to act in...

...a story about upper caste people?

Aren't l of the upper caste?

My blood is boiling.

Look here, Pillai...

ln Cinema, we can also

change an upper

caste person into a

lower caste person.

Just like we can change

a lower caste person...

...into an upper caste person

Pillai, go and sit

in a corner. Ready?

Action.

Look in the other direction

Play the veena.

What is it, old woman

Do l know how to play the veena?

Daniel Sir said it was

enough if l pretend to play it.

Finally l managed to do something.

How lucky you are!You can at

least act like a highborn lady.

True. l was allowed to wear

the brocaded mundu and rowka...

and the ornaments

of Daniel Sir's wife.

Will we get a chance

to wear these in our lifetime?

But Daniel sir utters some

strange thing now and then:

'Acashin'.

Then we are supposed

to act all of a sudden.

That's the problem.

When will it be screened?

That l don't know.

After my portion is over,

the shooting will be in Colombo.

Afterthat, it will be shown in the cinema

near the Huzur Kachery.

ls there the converted dalit inside?

Seeing that your girl hadn't

come to cut grass in...

Thampi boss' household,

we enquired.

lt is then that we came to know

she is acting in a 'cinema'.

You have become arrogant

after conversion,

...having escaped

untouchability and caste.

And what's more you

have set her loose...

...to act in dramas and flirt about.

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