Ananth Mahadevan on exploring death in Aata Vel Zaali Want to focus on catharsis not melodrama
Mumbai Oct 18 PTI With his Marathi film Aata Vel Zaali filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan says he wanted to look at death as the celebration of a life well lived and not as a sombre reminder of the endThe film titled Its Time to Go in English is headlined by Marathi acting legends Dilip Prabhavalkar and Rohini Hattangadi and revolves around an ageing couple who seek active euthanasia It is produced by Dinesh Bansal GK Agarwal and MahadevanWith Mumbai-set Aata Vel Zaali Mahadevan said he wanted to spotlight the existential crisis faced by the elderlyThe couple played by Prabhvalkar and Hattangadi feel they are leading unproductive and obsolete lives and hence seek active euthanasia as an unusual remedyThrough the eyes of an ageing couple I have made a black humour film even though it sounds very serious and poignant The whole film is a satire Thats how I have treated the film so that people are not frightened by the mention of the word death Mahadevan told PTI in an interviewCiting the example of Hrishikesh Mukherjees Anand which featured Rajesh Khanna as a cancer patient who laughs death away the director said the 1971 classic was the perfect formula for a film scriptWhen you are talking about death the mood should be the opposite of it It should not be as depressing as death You have to make it palatable to the viewersIf you have the strength to laugh at death you will have the strength to face it too The question that our protagonist asks here is Why are you frightened of death If you want a happy ending to your story you must know where to end it he addedMahadevan started writing Aata Vel Zaali in January in the middle of the pandemic which according to him has altered peopleWith the loss of a loved one in every family due to the coronavirus the filmmaker said death was suddenly seen in a different perspectiveThis autonomy that humans are today demanding for their lives whether it is societal or medical is something that intrigued me Because when we started looking at life and death in a different perspective over the last one and a half years I realised we never spoke about death we are frightened to talk about it There were a lot of cases especially among the elderly where they felt they did not want to get into a situation where they get a disease and suffer or get into prolonged hospitalisation They did not also want to be separated from each other We have almost always seen that when one spouse dies the other one virtually goes away soon When Mahadevan researched these cases he came across repeated mentions of active euthanasiaUnlike passive euthanasia which is mercy killing for those on ventilators or coma active euthanasia is only for healthy people who dont want to be patients who have understood that they have lived a good life so Let us have a good death let us die with dignity he addedThe director known for helming acclaimed dramas like Gour Hari Dastaan in Hindi and the National Award winning Marathi film Mee Sindhutai Sapkal said his new film was an extremely tough script to write but he still finished in 20 daysThe challenge Mahadevan noted was to avoid using any tropes usually associated with themes around deathI could not write anything that was illogical melodramatic or something which would not be anything but cathartic The bottom line was catharsis I had to get the emotions of characters without them shedding a tear or trying to be over the top The filmmaker chose to make Aata Vel Zaali in Marathi as it was the most organic setting for the projectMumbai the director said is not merely a city where the couple in the movie lives but also serves as a crucial character in the storylineThe smells the sounds and the nature of what we call the upgrading Mumbai a whole city ready for upheaval vis a vis people who have reached the last chapter of their lives and are ready to leave The contrast between the two is what I wanted to bring outThat comes beautifully when you set it in a chawl with Maharashtrians Their behaviour traditions in parallel with the modernity of a city that is bursting Thats probably one of the strong reasons why Marathi came naturally to this I could have made it in Hindi but I doubt whether the flavour that Marathi language has brought to it would have come in Hindi he addedMahadevan is looking for a December theatrical release for Aata Vel Zaali He has submitted the film to next years Berlin International Film Festival and also entered it to the Oscar selection process from India PTI JUR RDS RDS BK BK BK
Mumbai Oct 18 PTI With his Marathi film Aata Vel Zaali filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan says he wanted to look at death as the celebration of a life well lived and not as a sombre reminder of the endThe film titled Its Time to Go in English is headlined by Marathi acting legends Dilip Prabhavalkar and Rohini Hattangadi and revolves around an ageing couple who seek active euthanasia It is produced by Dinesh Bansal GK Agarwal and MahadevanWith Mumbai-set Aata Vel Zaali Mahadevan said he wanted to spotlight the existential crisis faced by the elderlyThe couple played by Prabhvalkar and Hattangadi feel they are leading unproductive and obsolete lives and hence seek active euthanasia as an unusual remedyThrough the eyes of an ageing couple I have made a black humour film even though it sounds very serious and poignant The whole film is a satire Thats how I have treated the film so that people are not frightened by the mention of the word death Mahadevan told PTI in an interviewCiting the example of Hrishikesh Mukherjees Anand which featured Rajesh Khanna as a cancer patient who laughs death away the director said the 1971 classic was the perfect formula for a film scriptWhen you are talking about death the mood should be the opposite of it It should not be as depressing as death You have to make it palatable to the viewersIf you have the strength to laugh at death you will have the strength to face it too The question that our protagonist asks here is Why are you frightened of death If you want a happy ending to your story you must know where to end it he addedMahadevan started writing Aata Vel Zaali in January in the middle of the pandemic which according to him has altered peopleWith the loss of a loved one in every family due to the coronavirus the filmmaker said death was suddenly seen in a different perspectiveThis autonomy that humans are today demanding for their lives whether it is societal or medical is something that intrigued me Because when we started looking at life and death in a different perspective over the last one and a half years I realised we never spoke about death we are frightened to talk about it There were a lot of cases especially among the elderly where they felt they did not want to get into a situation where they get a disease and suffer or get into prolonged hospitalisation They did not also want to be separated from each other We have almost always seen that when one spouse dies the other one virtually goes away soon When Mahadevan researched these cases he came across repeated mentions of active euthanasiaUnlike passive euthanasia which is mercy killing for those on ventilators or coma active euthanasia is only for healthy people who dont want to be patients who have understood that they have lived a good life so Let us have a good death let us die with dignity he addedThe director known for helming acclaimed dramas like Gour Hari Dastaan in Hindi and the National Award winning Marathi film Mee Sindhutai Sapkal said his new film was an extremely tough script to write but he still finished in 20 daysThe challenge Mahadevan noted was to avoid using any tropes usually associated with themes around deathI could not write anything that was illogical melodramatic or something which would not be anything but cathartic The bottom line was catharsis I had to get the emotions of characters without them shedding a tear or trying to be over the top The filmmaker chose to make Aata Vel Zaali in Marathi as it was the most organic setting for the projectMumbai the director said is not merely a city where the couple in the movie lives but also serves as a crucial character in the storylineThe smells the sounds and the nature of what we call the upgrading Mumbai a whole city ready for upheaval vis a vis people who have reached the last chapter of their lives and are ready to leave The contrast between the two is what I wanted to bring outThat comes beautifully when you set it in a chawl with Maharashtrians Their behaviour traditions in parallel with the modernity of a city that is bursting Thats probably one of the strong reasons why Marathi came naturally to this I could have made it in Hindi but I doubt whether the flavour that Marathi language has brought to it would have come in Hindi he addedMahadevan is looking for a December theatrical release for Aata Vel Zaali He has submitted the film to next years Berlin International Film Festival and also entered it to the Oscar selection process from India PTI JUR RDS RDS BK BK BK
