REMEMBERING JOHN ABRAHAM, “SHAPILLE PATTU” AND THE “MOTHER” One of our most significant filmmakers, John Abraham, died on 30 May 1987 at Calicut in Kerala; he was 50. And that was the time when things were getting a lot brighter for him. His latest film “Amma Ariyan” (Report to Mother, 1986) had won the Special Jury Award at the National Film Festival in 1987. He was also invited to Pesaro in Italy. Screen Unit, the Bombay-based film club that i had the privilege and honor of heading for a long time, had organized a HOMAGE TO JOHN ABRAHAM session in Mumbai on 17 June 1987. Chaired by Kumar Shahani, it was addressed by Anand Patwardhan, (Late) Parwez Merwanji, Arun Khopkar, myself and several others. In the SU Program Note of 5 June 1987, i had reproduced John’s poem addressed to Ritwik Ghatak. And in SU’s program note of 20 July 1987, i published one of our common friends Neelan’s moving letter written to me from Kerala. John Abraham was very close to Neelan and his family, he would knock the doors of his house even at midnight and ask Neelan’s mother for food or money. It is the same house in Poonkunnam, near Thrissur, that Kuntal, my wife and i had stayed with our children, Akanksha and Viplav. It is the same house we see in “Amma Ariyan” in a sequence when a small child (Neelan’s son) asks the elders talking about death – “What is death? Immediately after John’s death, Neelan wrote to me in a handwritten letter – we still wrote letters: “John used to appear before us at any time of the day or night. Spaceless! Timeless! He used to sing beautiful folk songs for the children – ADI ODI KALI ANADA KUTTIKALO. He used to harass mother for money, begging even for a five rupee note. He drank, and drank like a fish. But he dreamed, talked and walked like an angel.” In 1987, John was in Mumbai when “Amma Ariyan” was being screened. He stayed with our friend Sasikumar at Vakola (Santacruz East). One early morning he wanted to have booze, and he left alone. Since he took long time, Sasi went in search of him and found him sitting in a country liquor joint somewhere. John had made friends with the teenaged boy who was serving ‘spirit’ to him and after hearing his pathetic story, John started weeping, holding the boy in his arms. And then he announced, “My next film would be SHAPPILE PATTU (The Song of a Liqour Joint),” recalls Sasi, who is now based in Kerala. Photo-top: Mumbai; sometime in 1987 - Amrit Gangar with John Abraham. Courtesy: Sasikumar Vasudevan. At Sasi’s house, i had a long meeting with John there and then in some other country liquor adda where he had narrated to me some more stories. Photo-bottom left: A mother in “Amma Ariyan” Photo-bottom right: February 2013. Amrit Gangar with Neelan’s mother Arya (96) at her Thiruvanthapuram home. Photo courtesy: Cipin Angel. [At another time, overdrinking of arrack in Kerala had knocked me down ill, and it was Arya who had nursed me like a loving mother.]
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 00:50:07 +0000
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