Kicking off a new career

IT IS a different ball game altogether. However, soccer hero I. M. Vijayan is enjoying every bit of it. He is playing the lead in Jayaraj's Malayalam film, ``Shantham'', the second in the director's series on nine rasas (sentiments). The first, ``Karunam'', had won the Golden Peacock at the International Film Festival of India, held in New Delhi this January, and the Jury's Special Mention at the Fifth International Film Festival of Kerala. It was also screened at the Berlin, Vancouver, London, Moscow and Fukuoka festivals.

It had non-professional main players: two old persons from central Kerala, in their maiden tryst with cinema, enacted a tale of the plight of the elderly.

This is the second time Vijayan is facing the camera. Earlier, Cherian Joseph's ``Kalo Harin'' (Black Stag), a documentary on the footballer, had traced his rise from humble beginnings to a sporting hero.

For ``Shantham'', on the other hand, he has to emote and deliver complicated lines. ``Oh! the lines are baffling,'' he rues. But aren't they in Malayalam, and should he, hailing from Thrissur, find it difficult? ``This is austere Malayalam,'' he replies, ``What else should you expect in a script penned by veteran Madambu Kunjukuttan?''

Vijayan's charm lies in his simplicity and affability. On or off- field, he is a crowd-puller. Travelling with him in his Cielo is indeed an experience. At junctions, his fans stop the car and ask, ``Vijayetta, adutha kaliyeppozha?'' (When is your next match?) The car zig-zags through the road from Tirunavaya to Kuttipuram, with the Bharathapuzha shining in the evening light, on one side, and laterite-built houses dotting the other.

It all began when Jayaraj shared the dais with Vijayan at a function in Thrissur recently. The director had then expressed an interest in featuring the footballer in a film. ``I went back home and stood before the mirror awhile,'' Vijayan says. ``Seeing my unusual behavior, my wife asked me, ``Is something wrong with you?''

When he told her that he had been offered a film role, she burst into laughter. ``I was diffident at first,'' Vijayan says, ``But, persuaded by Jayaraj, I thought of giving it a try.''

``He is one of the most popular faces in Kerala today,'' Jayaraj notes. ``At a function in the Gulf recently, he drew more applause than Mohanlal did. Vijayan's rustic naturalness and athletic allure make him a fine actor.''

He plays a guilt-crazed man who has killed his bosom friend. Seema ``Bandit Queen'' Biswas dons the role of his mother. ``Right from the day I heard the story from the Cherthala playwright, P. Suresh Kumar, I had Biswas in mind for the role. I immensely enjoyed her performances in ``Bandit Queen'' and ``Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa''. Artistes of her calibre are rare.''

``Shantham'' is a tale of revenge and repentance, of individuals, caught in the whirlpool of life, longing to unite with the ocean of peace.

``Tirunavaya is believed to be the meeting place of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. Curiously, poojas are not performed here for Brahma. The film uses this as a symbol - of the creator being neglected after the creation,'' the director says. This location is Jayaraj's favourite. From ``Paithrukam'' to ``Desadanam'', he has focussed his camera on Valluvanadan life and landscape, on the appeal of Kerala's longest river, swollen in winter, and the endless stretch of sands, in summer.

In the evening, the crew move over to the Navamukunda temple. As cameraman Ravi Varman picturises Kalamandalam Gopi, veteran Kathakali dancer, who plays a major role in the movie, offering prayers on the steps in front of the temple, the sky turns grey. And there is a downpour. Jayaraj improvises and captures two scenes, in which KPAC Lalitha walks in the rain to the temple, choking back her tears.

Rain, he says, plays an important role in the story.

Aren't all his films replete with hackneyed religious signs? ``What is wrong in that?'' he shoots back.

From ``Shantham'', slated to be released in December, he plans to join a mainstream project, teaming up with Ranjith and Shaji Kailas. The director divides his time between alternative films such as ``Kaliyattom'' and ``Desadanam'', which had been screened at several international festivals, and mainstream ventures such as ``Millennium Stars''. What went wrong with ``Millennium Stars''? ``Its subject (art and lives of pop singers) was alien to Malayalam. There were also problems with the casting and scripting.''

Vijayan visits the sets only in the afternoons, after his morning practice sessions. And patiently waits for his shots. ``I want the film to come out well,'' he says. He is putting his best foot forward to achieve the goal.

K. SANTHOSH

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