Cinema & Literature: A Lively Debate

The Kochi Book Fest, a three-day literary festival, successfully concluded on Sunday. A significant event during the festival was a seminar focusing on 'Malayalam Cinema and Literature,' held in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Lalithambika Antharjanam's renowned novel 'Agnisakshi.'

Screenwriters P F Mathews and S Hareesh, alongside literary-film critic Aju K Narayanan and Dilip Raj, engaged in a spirited discussion. Raj expressed his inclination towards independent cinema devoid of explicit literary elements. Mathews lauded Aravindan's 'Kanchana Seetha' as a remarkable film, noting 'Swayamvaram' as the first Malayalam film to fully capture cinematic artistry. He observed that Malayalees often seek literary parallels in cinema rather than appreciating it as a distinct art form.

Hareesh shared his realization that cinema is fundamentally the director's medium, stemming from the question of screenplay authorship. Narayanan commented on the declining importance of writers in contemporary cinema and how current film criticism often prioritizes political viewpoints over artistic merit.