A day after his controversial remarks against Dalit and women filmmakers at the Kerala film policy conclave, a police complaint has been filed against veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan. The complaint was filed by Dalit activist and research scholar Dinu Veyil at the Museum police station in Thiruvananthapuram. Along with it, Veyil also registered a complaint with the SC/ST commission, accusing Adoor of promoting ill will against Dalits by insinuating that the community was prone to corruption.
On Sunday, August 3, Adoor Gopalakrishnan stoked a controversy by criticising the Kerala government project to fund films by women and the SC/ST community, terming them untrained and unequipped.
“All of the filmmakers, selected through the project, have complaints. They think they can just take the funds and go to make their films. They should be told that these are public funds. The amount given should be reduced so that they know all the difficulties of making a film. These funds are not for making commercial films or superstar films, it is for making good cinema. The same goes for women. You don't just give funds because they are women, they should also be trained,” Adoor had said.
Many including Minister R Bindu as well as filmmakers like Dr Biju have registered their protest against the veteran filmmaker’s remarks.
But Adoor justified his remarks the next day, saying that a script alone does not make a film, even after it was pointed out that the films were chosen after an intensive process of scriptwriting, and multiple meetings with an expert committee.
“I have been a student of cinema for a lifetime and I am still one. New technologies keep coming to the field. So when those who do not have any background in cinema get funds from the government, they need months of training. Cinema speaks a different language. Without training, if you give someone money to make films, someone else may end up doing all the work,” Adoor said, alleging that the late cinematographer MJ Radhakrishnan had to complete the films of several such debutants.
The first voice of protest had risen at the conclave while Adoor was still speaking but it was shushed down by others in the audience. Noted Dalit singer and Sangeeta Nataka Academy vice chairperson Pushpavathy said at the end of the conclave that with all due respect for Adoor, she had to remind him of the centuries of oppression that members of the Dalit community had to go through.
However, Adoor’s response to her comments was to question her participation at the conclave, and ask who she was to interrupt his speech. His words did not attempt to mask the superiority he felt as he raised his voice to proclaim that he knew more than anyone else at the conclave and the woman should not have been ‘empowered’ to interrupt his speech. Democracy appeared to be the last thought in his mind when he alleged she did it only for publicity.
Pushpavathy, not wanting to escalate the debate, refrained from speaking much in response except to state her association with films – playback singing since 2001 – and ask him to study the issues of the Dalit community that she represented.
Even as there were voices defending Adoor, interpreting his meaning as one for the betterment of cinema, Dinu Veyil pointed out that the problem was in his line that giving money to SC/ST members would pave the way for corruption, insinuating that the community was prone to corruption. It was criminal according to Section 3(1)(u) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act 1989, which criminalised promoting feelings of hatred or ill-will towards SC/ST members. Adoor had made the allegations without the backing of any data, Dinu said. In addition, Adoor repeatedly said that the aspiring filmmakers should be told that they were given money from the public funds, a line that questioned their morality and honesty and an assumption that they were unaware.
Dr Biju, acclaimed filmmaker who has always been vocal about his opinions, said that the National Film Development Corporation followed the same practice to select filmmakers by inviting applications from everyone (not only minorities). “They have funded so many films, following the same process of selection. Why isn't training recommended for them? Why is it only problematic when it comes to SC/ST filmmakers and women?” Dr Biju asked.
