DIRECTOR BLESSY AND THE BIRTH SCENE

The Malayalam film director Blessy is not only a versatile director but also a unique one in the field in choosing the theme and presentation. Blessy’s recent movies ‘Thanmatra’ and ‘Pranayam’ were highly acclaimed films. The ‘Thanmatra’ dealt the dreaded disease, Alzheimer’s and its inching forward in to the mind of a normal healthy man and the film ‘Pranayam’ dealt with the universal topic of love in its pure form away from the conventional models.

Blessy has a distinct way from others in his choice of themes. He says that ideas for a film come to his mind unexpectedly and gradually develop into the form of a healthy story line over some time. Now he is about to release his next film tentatively named ‘Kalimannu’ (clay) and though the film is not released and no one has seen it, controversies upon it have started.

 This time Blessy has chosen ‘motherhood’ as the theme of the film. He says that he is fascinated by the metamorphosis of a girl in to a mother as she gives birth to a baby. He means both the mental and physical changes that takes place naturally in her.

Blessy, being a perfectionist, wanted to include all aspects of motherhood from pregnancy time onwards to child birth and child care. Though childbirth is a taboo subject to visualize it did not deter  him from asking to the versatile actress Sweta Menon, who was pregnant then whether she could act in the film during the pregnancy period  and was it O.K for her to shoot her delivery. Sweta Menon who thrives on novel ways of characterizations agreed to act in the film. The major portion of scenes including child birth have been taken now. The delivery scene was taken in the ‘Nanavaty’ Hospital, Bombay when except for the doctors and nurses three camera men, director Blessy and husband of Sweta Menon, Sreevalsan Menon were present and the scene was shot in one go for twenty minutes without cuts.

The actual child-birth scenes are rare in films though not uncommon, like in the films of  'What to expect when you are expecting’, ‘Teenage mother’ etc. However the question remains as to whether the messy details of a delivery are necessary in a feature film to get the effect needed for the story line. But if a director chooses to depict it and is confident enough to seamlessly incorporate it with the story line, there is nothing wrong with it.

To  criticize a film or its director beforehand even seeing the film is absurd. The film exhibitors’ Association has threatened not to exhibit the Blessy’s film in theaters if it is with the delivery scene. I think it is an injustice to the artist who makes the film. The Director, as an artist, has his freedom of choice  to make the film according to his concept. Besides, many a rape scenes, murders and other gory things are part of a majority of popular movies and the Association should feel ashamed of them rather than on childbirth which is one of nature's glorious moments.

Sweta  Menon too deserves appreciation for her courage and commitment.


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Latest:  The Movie has been completed and is ready for release. The Censor Board has given it a Universal certificate which makes the film viewable by all including children. But for reasons best known to them the Film exhibitors' Union is against the childbirth scene in the film and would not show the film in theatres. The realease of the film is thus under a cloud.