He has directed just three films, but from the very first film itself, he could leave his signature on each frame. Though he never went behind masala formula, this cinematographer-turned-director could definitely make his projects a crowd-puller with his realistic approach in the narration. It is the same factor that makes Rajeev Ravi’s latest directorial venture Kammattipadam unique among the films by his contemporaries.
Rajeev says he likes to tell the story of people who live around him. “My preference is to focus on real life incidents or people I know personally. It is what I have been doing from my very first film Annayum Rasoolum that narrates the story of two characters from Vypin and Fort Kochi. When it comes to my second directorial venture, I chose the life of a family from Puthenthope in Thiruvananthapuram. My latest choice was Kammattipadam here in Kochi," says the director from his office in Gandhi Nagar, which is almost near to the erstwhile Kammattipadam.
Rajeev’s memories about Kammattipadam were narrated through the point of view of Dulquer’s Krishnan in the movie. The age of Krishnan and Rajeev is almost same. “It is my native place,” says Rajeev, adding, “When I was a kid, the majority of the buildings you see were not here.”
“A shown in the film, it was a padam (paddy field). As the characters in the film, I am the one who witnessed the gradual transition of this village-like structure to a posh residential area. I could place this story anywhere in Kerala, instead of Kammattipadam as the same things are happening in every village or town where development takes place.”
The director points out that each film which goes in a realistic manner is like a text book for him. “These attempts help me understand the history and more things about each place where the story is being set." “Kammattipadam was supposed to be my first film,” says Rajeev. It was in 2010 that Rajeev, who was then cranking camera for back-to-back projects in Hindi, decided to direct a film in his mother tongue. “I came down to Kerala and approached Balettan (P. Balachandran) to write script on the subject Kammattipadam. Though he agreed, the script did not get ready on time. In the meantime, I joined Balettan’s directorial venture Ivan Megharoopan as the cinematographer,” says Rajeev, who later decided to start with Annayum Rasoolum.
“It was Fahadh (Faasil), who forced me to start my career as director with Annayum Rasoolum. I was then running behind the script of Kammattipadam. When Fahadh approached me to direct a film with him, I decided to give more time to Kammattipadam and went ahead with Annayum Rasoolum,” he says.
Rajeev points out that support from all corners is necessary to make a film reach the audience.
“The first matter to highlight is the attitude of certain exhibitors. They are supposed to show a film the director conceived. But certain exhibitors take an effort to fix the length of the film. Even from my first film, certain exhibitors have been doing this.” And when it comes to censorship, which affected his film, he says “I still don’t know what is happening in the country. It is not an isolated issue. The decisions of the Censor Board are affecting many films like Udta Punjab. I guess they have changed the guidelines,” he quips.
