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Gnyana Rajasekharan is an I.A.S. officer, but he has this great
passion for cinema. Which was what made him attempt to join a film
institute in his early years for a course in direction. But he was
rejected. He did get admission in the film institute at Chennai, but left
mid way as he had to prepare for his civil services exam, as per his
father's wish. He became an I.A.S. officer and fulfilled his father's
dream. And it was when he was posted as the chief of the Kerala Film
Development Corporation that he got to interact with talented filmmakers
and see their films. His passion for cinema was rekindled. And when he was
posted to Chennai as the chief of the Censor Board, he got his chance to
direct a feature film. That was 'Moghul Mul', which got him the National
Award for the best first film of a director.
It was based on Janakiraman's popular novel and centred round a
youth's attraction for an older woman. Well-crafted and sensitively
handled, Rajasekharan proved he had a firm grip on the medium. But his
second film 'Mugham' disappointed. It had Nasser as this man with a
grotesque face who finds a magic mask. He becomes a superstar overnight
and comes face to face with the reality of the hypocrisy of the people
around him. The opening scenes were promising, but somewhere along the
way, the director seemed to lose focus. "It was an interesting role to
begin with, but then it seemed to go nowhere," Nasser had said. Now
Rajasekharan is into his third directorial venture titled 'Bharati'.
The film centres round the life of the great Tamil poet
Subramania Bharatiyar. When the poet passed away, there were reportedly
just fourteen people attending his funeral. What happened to all his
admirers? Why did they stay away? Rajasekharan explores all this and more
in the film. It is also about Chellamma, the poet's wife, who looked after
the home front, so her husband could concentrate on writing. The poet even
forgot his daughter's wedding day, and it was left to Chellamma to make
the arrangements. Sayaji Shinde, the talented stage and small screen actor
from Mumbai, plays the role of the poet. Devayani is Chellamma. Quite
excited about her role, Devayani hopes it will fetch her a national
award.
Indu plays Chellamma's sister, while Srikant is the poet uncle. Nizhalgal Ravi acts the role of Arya, the poet's friend, Director T.P. Gajendran is Kuvalai Kannan, while Bharati Dasan is played by Kumar Natarajan. Businessman V.G. Santhosham is Ettayapuram Raja and Delhi Kumar plays Mandapam Srinivasa Acharya. The younger Bharatiyar is played by Master Pushpak. Illaiyaraja sets to tune the lyrics written by Pulamaipithan, Mu. Mehta and the poems of Bharatiyar.
Thangar Bachan cranks the camera while Lenin-Vijayan are the editors. Krishnamurthy is the art designer and the dances have been choreographed by Naseer Babu and Radhika. 'Bharati' is produced by Media Dreams, who have made many serials for the small screen. Computer graphics designed by Penta Media finds a place in the film. With shooting at locations in Chennai, Nellai Puthuchery and Karaikudi, the film is almost complete and expected to hit the theatres shortly.
Malini Mannath