BEHINDWOODS CELEBRITY COLUMN

Dear friends near and far,

I owe you a HUGE apology for my ‘Rip Van Winkle-ism’ regarding ‘talkie with rekhs’. But it felt so good that ‘TWR’ was missed I must say!

This week I’d like to share a slice of Alphonse’s life with you quoting this song, one of my childhood favorites for its lyrical content.  

“To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven”

Sung by the band ‘Byrds’ this song became an international hit in the mid 60s and still holds the record for the #1 hit with the oldest lyrics. Lyrics are from the Bible, almost verbatim from the Book of Ecclesiastes (except for the line “turn, turn, turn”) Very similar to how Alphonse has incorporated the Pistah song in his film.

Alphonse Putharen intrigued me from the beginning. His phone conversations with me tended to be short and sweet. He came across as a man ‘extremely focused about his work and nothing else matters’. So when I met him a few days ago, finally, I decided to pat myself on my back as I was right in my analysis! A boy in his late 20s, with eyes that bore into your soul, a mind that beats a calculator hollow, not a show-off, in fact just the opposite, very reserved, behaves low profiled but has his facts in tact!

Youngest of 3 children but surrounded by cousins as his parents lived in a joint family, at a very early age Alphonse was bundled off to a residential school. When he was in the 11^th grade at about 1:00 a.m he got a call from his friend Sridevi, who just said “be at Highway gardens tomorrow at 6:00 a.m sharp, you are acting in a film with me”. Extremely excited, he was at the given spot just as the clock struck 6. There was not even a single crow in sight, let alone human beings. At 8:00 a.m he was served idlis and a long wait followed. At 2:30 was his 1^st shot ever for the celluloid screen. All he was asked to do was stand in the farthest corner possible of the frame with his right hand not even in the picture!

Despite this disappointing 1^st time acting experience of his life, Alphonse nurtured a desire to be part of the reel world. His dad while watching films on TV would proclaim, “they have increased the color, it wasn’t like this when I saw this film in the theater” And this random declaration set Alphonse thinking.

He hassled his cousin to introduce him to DoP Jibu Jacob and the right ‘time’ made his wish come true at a family wedding. After graduation he started his film career as asst to Jibu in the film ‘Boy friend’ in 2005. Then started the perfunctory routine of being ready at an unearthly hour as 5:00 a.m and asked to cut paper all the time on the sets. He had no clue why he was doing all this which exasperated him big time. He was asked to hold thermocol but did not know it was a tool to reflect light. After 3 ½ weeks of this, he just scooted from the sets. He decided to get himself properly qualified, packed his bags and landed in Singara Chennai. From 2006 to 2009 he spent his happiest times at SAE, where he bonded with the 3 musketeers who have today contributed to ‘Neram’ in a big way:  Pradeep (dialog writer of Neram, Tamil and assoc director) I.V.Kartikeyan (Associate director, Neram) Rajesh Murugesan (Music, Neram). In fact they made 6 short films, of which Neram was one. If I’m not wrong, I think Neram precedes all SFMIFF syndrome (short films made into feature films).

According to Alphonse, “if today I watch those short films we made, I feel I’ve gone through evolution rather than change”! He also adds with his reluctant charming half-smile, “I keep watching it to tell myself ‘buddy, you’ve grown’. Neram was made long before the popular series ‘Naalaya iyakunar’ was telecast.

I complimented Alphonse on knowing Tamil and he sheepishly grinned and said, “I went to S.V.Sekar’s office, as he was MLA to seek permission to shoot in Mandaiveli. And I asked “Avar irukaanaa”?!” Apparently the security holding a lathi got up with a menacing look but his friend Pradeep intervened saying “he doesn’t know Tamil”!

From 2009 to 2012 Alphonse went through the ‘searching for the right producer’ time of his life. The steps he climbed up and down for this dream of his to come true are countless. He had to hear and digest with great difficulty comments like “We don’t need another Aranyakandam” and “most confusing script I’ve ever read” from big time producers and celeb star actors.

During this time of ‘search and research’ Alphonse worked with Kartik Subbaraj of Pizza fame, editing his short films. Incidentally Alphonse is a self-taught editor. His edit of ‘Mila toh marega’ from RGV’s Rakta charithra incorporated with the visuals of the film ‘300’ was complimented by RGV himself who tweeted it as “amazing edit”! Alphonse’s reluctant smile became longer and stronger like the cat that caught the yellow canary!

Enjoy it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91i_GJE4H10

His search culminated in Abhimaan the producer of Neram who read his script and said “Wow!” and Alphonse breathed a sigh of immense relief. Being an avid reader himself, this producer’s instincts told him if he invested in this, it would be ‘money back guaranteed’

Choice of hero was easy, Nivin is his childhood friend, who acted in his short film ‘eli’ (that’s how Alphonse bonded with his Neram film’s DoP Anand C. Chandran) produced by Vineeth Srinivasan.

His music video ‘nenjodu cherthu’ from the album Yuvvh that stands for ‘you and youth’  starred the lead pair of Neram (film) Nivin and Nazria, was released by Sony music. It was an instant hit on you tube. It crossed 2 lakh hits within 4 days. Needless to add, he doubled as the editor too. You can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APJxwxZuA0E

In its original format Neram as a short film, Vijay Sethupathi was the hero. As also in his short film ‘angel’ and ‘flavors’ his music video made with only still photographs. Revel in this revolutionary thought process here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCH4snHd_Ts

The way Pistah song became part of ‘Neram’ is in Alphonse’s words ‘a happy accident’. He was racking his brain cells for a song with absolute gibberish lyrics, in fact wrote a few but somehow he wasn’t happy with the outcome. His classmate in S.A.E Shabareesh Varma used to sing the original song that was  written, composed and sung by Jagathy Sreekumar for Sathyan Anthikad’s film ‘Kinnaram’ (1983) in which Jagathy plays the role of Varmaji a music composer. Out of the blue, Alphonse realized this was what he was searching for. Rest is ‘viral’ history.

For 1 more look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuuypjzzqRw

I’d like to add here that though this song does not need subtitles I did so for western audience to get an idea. I’ve tried my best to retain the nonsensicality and given credit to the original lyricist in the subs. A similar streak I saw in Alphonse who has included Jibu Jacob’s name in the ‘thank you’ cards, because he is where he is now, thanks to that ‘first time’ push!

His attention to details is noteworthy. While I was subtitling I noticed the herd of buffaloes that have also ‘acted’ and I mentioned it to him. Alphonse laughed and said”that was a happy accident too! They barged into my scene and I suddenly thought why not have them to signify Lord of death Yama, by which time they had trotted past. So the A.Ds had a tough task herding them back, in front of the camera. I personally feel Neram should be watched twice to let the details sink in…and the effort invested.

I like the way Alphonse is taking his own sweet time in deciding on his next project despite offers landing on his lap. He is not in a rush…wants to savor each moment to the fullest. Time sure plays a vital part in his world.

I wonder how many film makers were first editors and then donned the director’s cap in India…worth ‘googling’. I only know Robert Wise of Sound of music fame and David lean of Dr Zhivago fame in the international arena. But I guess every director should be an editor within…waiting for the right time to make a direct impact to a worldwide audience!

That’s why I was reminded of this beautiful song:
“A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late”
And a time to celebrate…!

Here’s wishing Alphonse a glorious ‘time’ ahead
Until the next TWR, tata byebye cheerio…see you!

rekhs