Girish Kasaravalli returns to UR Ananthamurthy’s world, set to adapt ‘Aakasha Mattu Bekku’

Anveshane, a production house based in Thirthahalli (the native place of literary stalwarts, including two Jnanpith award recipients — Kuvempu and U. R. Ananthamurthy), stands on the banks of the Tunga River and is nestled in the thick of the Western Ghats, a perfect blend of scenic beauty and cultural heritage. Anveshane is producing Aakasha Mattu Bekku through a crowdfunding initiative. The aim of Anveshane is to showcase native talent. Everyone involved in this project — including the story writer, technicians, and artistes — are from Thirthahalli.

Instead of basking in the glory of Ghatashraddha — which holds the rare distinction of being screened at the 81st Venice International Film Festival after its restoration through a collaboration between Hollywood director Martin Scorsese and India’s Film Heritage Foundation led by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur —Kasaravalli is engrossed in visualising Aakasha Mattu Bekku, one of the most important short stories by Ananthamurthy. Notably, both Kasaravalli and Ananthamurthy hail from the Thirthahalli region: While Ananthamurthy came from Melige village, Kasaravalli belongs to Kasaravalli village, just 20 kilometers away.

Ghatashraddha, produced by filmmaker Sadananda Suvarna in 1977, not only marked the arrival of a promising new filmmaker in Kasaravalli but also brought Kannada cinema into the forefront of India’s parallel cinema movement. The film won three prestigious awards at the 25th National Film Awards, including Best Feature Film, Best Music Direction, and Best Child Artist. In 2002, Ghatashraddha became the only Indian film selected by the National Archives of Paris among 100 others during the centenary celebration of cinema. At the 2009 International Film Festival of India, it was declared one of the 20 best films in the history of Indian cinema.

‘Girish Karnad had rejected Ghatashraddha’s script’

A mix of black and white hair frames a wide-sweeping forehead and large, inquiring eyes. Modest and unassuming, Girish Kasaravalli maintains a low profile and appears reticent. However, he is quick to engage in discussions and debates passionately, especially when the subjects are cinema, theatre, and literature. This streak of stubborn independence has led Kasaravalli to break the conventional rules and grammar of the visual medium throughout his five-decade-long film career. In a conversation with The Federal, Kasaravalli shared insights about Ghatashraddha, his association with Ananthamurthy, and the reasons behind choosing another one of his short stories, which stands out due to its unique structure. In fact, Aakasha Mattu Bekku resembles a film script because of its detailed narrative.

Also read: Girish Kasaravalli interview: ‘My later films are more layered than Ghatashraddha’

In an earlier conversation with this writer, he revealed that Ghatashraddha’s script was rejected by Girish Karnad when he submitted it as an assignment to the experts’ board while studying at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. When asked to elaborate on the events that led to Karnad’s rejection of the Ghatashraddha script, Kasaravalli smiled and remarked, “One K (Kasaravalli) got sandwiched in the fight between two Ks (Karnad and B.V. Karanth). Karnad also rejected the script of my institute film Avashesh and withheld my best film award. To this day, I have not collected that award, which remains in the possession of FTII.” 

“Because of my association with K.V. Subbanna, a renowned writer passionate about film, I was introduced to Kannada literature. He was my uncle, too. As a young boy, I read ‘Ghatashraddha,’ and it disturbed me to my core. Towards the end of my course at FTII, I remember presenting the script of Ghatashraddha to our Institute’s director, Girish Karnad, who outrightly rejected it, deeming it poorly written. However, he did appreciate Ananthamurthy’s short story. I later met Sadananda Suvarna at the Bombay International Film Festival, who liked the script and agreed to produce the film. Still, I consider the days I spent at FTII as the most fruitful of my life,” shared Kasaravalli, reflecting on his experiences at the institution when Karnad was at the helm.

‘Aakasha Mattu Bekku: A tribute to Ananthamurthy

He describes Aakasha Mattu Bekku as a tribute to Ananthamurthy. “I am not exaggerating when I say that anyone could have made a film based on the short story Ghatashraddha. It is a well-structured story with meticulous details. It is the one film where I have not deviated from the original text. It explores the theme of articulation versus inarticulation.” Ananthamurthy once confessed that, like in Samskara, the articulate person fails, while it is the inarticulate one who often succeeds. This dilemma resonates with the protagonists of Ghatashraddha in many ways, and it flows through Aakasha Mattu Bekku as well, especially in the relationship between Jayateertha Acharya and his friend Comrade Govindan Nair.

Also read: Girish Kasaravalli interview: ‘I didn’t have the mental make-up for mainstream cinema’

“I hold great respect for Ananthamurthy as a thinker. He provokes us to consider an issue from ten different angles. During discussions at Ninasam Heggodu, when we showed a film, he would interpret it in such a way that it inspired us to envision the issue through various lenses. He often drew upon epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita, alongside the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, D.H. Lawrence, Shivarama Karantha, and Ram Manohar Lohia and Mahatma Gandhi, expanding upon their insights. His perspective of the world was so comprehensive. I have always admired his articulation skills,” said Kasaravalli.

A story about conflict between science and belief

Most of Kasaravalli’s works are adaptations of literary texts; he has never considered making a film based on an independent story or issue. When quizzed about this, Kasaravalli admitted, “It is true that I have not written an independent story. Sometimes, I feel I would have liked to create independent scripts. But I don’t know why I don’t find inspiration in them. I draw inspiration from literary texts that develop into a kind of argument in my mind at a conscious level. However, I haven’t limited myself to works produced during the zenith of the Navya (modern) literary movement. I have found inspiration in the writings of Ananthamurthy, Yashavantha Chittala, T.G. Raghava, Na D’Souza, Kum Veerabhadrappa, T.N. Seetharam, Vaikuntaraju, Tejaswi, among others, including Jayant Kaikini and Amaresh Nugadoni. I choose stories that contain elements I can address, particularly regarding the socio-cultural and political tensions within society at large.”

Also read: Why Kannada writer UR Ananthamurthy did not want to live in Modi-ruled India

When The Federal met with Kasaravalli, he was busy putting the final touches on his script of Aakasha Mattu Bekku, which, according to literary critic Sudarshan Patil Kulkarni, represents “a synthesis and conflict between the rationality of science and beliefs shaped by conditioning, between aspirations and ground realities — a journey oscillating between the luxury of flight in the sky (dreams) and the discomfort of travel in a bullock cart (ground reality).”

Ananthamurthy wrote this story during a time when social and political tensions were escalating in the mid-1970s, which culminated in the Emergency. During this period, Navya literature faded away, while more socially conscious literature emerged, distancing itself from the earlier obsession with the self. Ananthamurthy’s response to these changing times was reflected in a number of short stories, including Aakasha Mattu Bekku. Connoisseurs of Kasaravalli’s films are now keenly curious about how this 75-year-old filmmaker will visualise this complex text.