When everybody is feeling insecure, their voices become louder: Vetrimaaran

“The whole of India has started making political statements and political films because that is the need of the hour. The secularism has to be saved, and when everybody is feeling insecure, they start voicing out louder”, said filmmaker and screenwriter Vetrimaaran. “The majority is insecure and so are the minorities, no one feels secure about their place in the country. Cinema has been a tool of political proclamation and liberation”, added he. He was participating in the ‘In Conversation’ segment of the 23rd IFFK.

“In popular Cinema, you often see the one person who brings an end to all the issues. There, the filmmakers are actually working against the very cause that they started making the film with. When you say there is this one protagonist who changes the world overnight, you end up searching for this hero. The biggest flaw of blockbuster films is that they thus provide a means of escapism for the viewer from all the social pressure that they are under. Films should convey that, if you want to bring in a change, you can do it,” opined the National Film Award winning director.

“Cinema speaks to the masses. Unlike poetry or even oration, it gives a feeling to the people that they are represented. I can easily identify myself with the marginalized. I’ve been there, lived that life, know the thoughts, and know how to get out of it. There are always grey shades in people; there is no good-good person, or a bad-bad person. Through my films I’ve tried to critique the system which can create someone, and can crush the same person if and when it wants. It is all an attempt to raise voices against human-rights violation,” he added.

Vetrimaaran cited Kurosawa one of his biggest influences, and expressed how Bharathan and Sibi Malayil films have had an impact on him. H Shaji, Deputy Director (Festival), Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, participated in the session.