Malayalam filmmaker and chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Ranjith is not qualified enough to judge a film that so many delegates are watching at the International Film Festival of Kerala, said director Dr Biju. He was responding to Ranjith’s criticism of his work in an interview given to The New Indian Express. Ranjith had asked what was Dr Biju’s relevance when few people went to theatres for his new release Adrishya Jeevithangal. Interestingly, the film was selected in the Kaleidoscope category of the IFFK, which is run by the Academy.
“You have asked me to think about my relevance, I have. The last international recognition I got is from a jury headed by [acclaimed Turkish] director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. You can ask someone about that director. Since he is also a director whose films don't fill theatres, you may not know his relevance either,” Dr Biju said in an open letter to Ranjith he posted on his Facebook page.
He states that the first screening of Adrishya Jeevithangal had an excellent turnout at the IFFK, and the second screening was also fully booked within minutes of opening reservations. "You are the chairman of the festival and you are asking a director who was chosen in a most prestigious category of the festival, what is his relevance since his films are not filling theatres," Biju writes. He only has sympathy for the ignorance of Ranjith who thinks that cinema is only meant for filling theatres.
Watch: Ranjith on Dr Biju
Dr Biju adds that he had sent a personal message to Ranjith after seeing his interview, writing that "Mr Ranjith is not the one who decides my relevance. I don't need the recognition of someone who does not know that there is a world of cinema beyond Kerala and India." Ranjith has responded with a thanks, and then a message "threatening" him to stop, Biju writes. It is to publicly say that he was not going to tolerate Ranjith's "aristocratic behaviour and bossing around" that he wrote the post, Dr Biju adds.
Ranjith was involved in another controversy a few months ago when director Vinayan had alleged that Ranjith interfered in the jury’s decisions when the Kerala State Film Awards were announced. A complaint in this regard was forwarded to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after which another director M Lijeesh moved the High Court to set aside the awards in light of Ranjith’s alleged misuse of his position as the Academy chairman.