Mani Ratnam, Gautam Menon discuss book-to-film challenges

Panaji: Kala Academy can seat 1,034 people, and it was packed to capacity on Friday when filmmakers Mani Ratnam and Gautam Vasudev Menon discussed the challenges of turning literary works into films.

The session was part of the International Film Festival of India’s (IFFI) masterclass series. The eight-day festival opened on November 20.

Mani Ratnam’s most recent works, Ponniyin Selvan I and II, are set in the Chola era (circa 10th century), and based on an eponymous book by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Before it became a book, the work was serialised in a Tamil magazine too.

Gautam Menon began by describing Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society (1989) as his second most favourite film, after Mani Ratnam’s Nayagan (1987). Mani Ratnam then opened up about his reading over the years, listing a number of popular writers such as Ayn Rand and Raymond Chandler. “I am now reading a book by Salman Rushdie called Victory City. It is based on Vijayanagaram… the early days. It is absolutely stunning. It is like a film, the way he writes,” he said, describing Rushdie’s blend of history and fiction as “brilliant”.

Gautam Menon asked if this was a sneak peak into his next film, to which Mani Ratnam said, “I wish, I wish. I wish I was that prolific.” For now, a Mani Ratnam film on the grand empire, with its capital in Karnataka’s Hampi, may not immediately be on the cards.

Literature, theatre and cinema are different languages, and the differences become evident when a literary work is turned into a play and then into a film, he said. He cited the example of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest — the theatre and film versions reimagined the novel in their own unique ways.

Enthusiastic fans, many familiar with the Chennai-based filmmakers’ full body of work, vied to ask questions, prompting the two directors to either deflect with some humour, and answer others with candid replies.

A cinephile stood up and hectored Mani Ratnam for not reading Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, to which he said, “What makes you think I haven’t?” When the cinephile insisted that the names Mani Ratnam had listed were “commercial writers”, he shot back, “But I am a commercial filmmaker!”

Mani Ratnam explained that he relied more on conventional shooting than computer graphics for his historical novels as the minute details — such as the sweat and the grime — gave the historical films grittiness and immediacy.

Earlier in the day, a masterclass on sound design featured stalwart Nakul Kamte, known for his work in such films as Lagaan and Rang de Basanti, and the Emmy-winning sound designer Eric Hoehn. They plunged into a Q&A right away, and fielded questions from industry insiders and aspiring technicians. When a student asked them about adapting to changing technology, they advised him to concentrate more on getting the basic sound right, and then worrying about the formats.

Besides filmmakers and cinema buffs, film studies students from across India are attending the festival. Now in its 55th edition, the festival concludes on November 28.