Krishna, on screen
The ‘sambhavami yuge yuge’ mantra is alive and kicking, at least for tinsel town’s dream merchants. Krishna on screen has something very fascinating about him. There used to be a time when men and women thronged thatched ‘cinema talkies’ to see the Lord on screen. Some things never change. The on-screen Krishna aura still remains. He isn’t just god for the Indian. He is one among them, naughty and human, with a dash of divinity around him. Film makers have all through the years been overawed by this character, easy to conceive, but yet complex to be contained in a screen drama.For me, personally, three Krishna depictions on screen stand out. Of them, two graced the telly. And, look how different they turned out to be. The Krishna of Bharat Ek Khoj, Shyam Benegal’s take on Pandit Nehru’s Discovery of India, and the immensely divine and handsome Krishna of the televison epic Mahabharata. Both were memorable caricatures of a god more human than divine. While Benegal tried to make Krishna (Salim Ghouse in a memorable role) as human as possible, Nitish Bharadwaj’s Krishna boasted of all that was divine.Criticisms apart, Nitish’s Krishna had all that needed to keep people of all ages glued to the small screen on those Sunday mornings, with sandalwood sticks and diyas burning in a corner. Omnipresent he indeed was, in every home.Sunday nights were for the serious viewer, then. A few episodes of Bharat Ek Khoj had Krishna appear on weekend nights in human form - no frills attached. He was there on screen, clad in common man’s attire, dark and smiling. Yet another slice of history, that was Benegal’s Krishna. While Bharadwaj had the fantasy element all over his role, Ghouse was common man in walk and talk.Now spare a minute to judge, how successful Krishna depictions were on the big screen. Personally for me just one, honestly. The ultimate portrayal of the smiling naughty god with all that’s human came through the young Aravindan, the talented young actor who played the quintessential Unnikrishnan (or Unniyettan for the protagonist Balamani). Ranjith’s debut directorial venture, Nandanam (the film has come and gone, but it did conquer hundreds of hearts before it faded off the screen), would stay in memory for two factors - Navya Nair’s portrayal of Balamani and, more important, Aravindan’s Krishna depiction, a concept that beats all fantasies till date.Nandanam’s Krishna had in him all that needs to charm. The commendable fact being, all through the film, the Krishna character never once slips to be divine. He arrives when Balamani casually calls out him in a moment dipped in pathos. He arrives as the never-seen boy-next-door. Balamani thinks this is the Unniyettan she had been hearing of from Unnikrishnan’s mother. In him, Balamani sees a friend with whom she can discuss her woes, but not all, for that matter. Unni is always there when she needs relief. A love story gone awry, till the end, gets redeemed for her though it makes her lover’s kith and kin fighting over many an issue concerning a wedding. Unni plays the smiling naughty adviser, a friend god send. Only when her dreams turn real does she realise her friend wasnt god send, he was god himself. The last frames, when only Balamani is able to see Krishna waving at her and running back into the sanctum sanctorum of the famed Guruvayoorappan temple, make one left with a feeling of seeing him more. Nandanam’s Krishna is one of a kind.Krishna isn't someone who weilds the chakra or plays charioteer to the famed Pandava. Nandanam’s Krishna is not an incarnation, for that matter. He arrives when his admirer, a fan, a friend calls up to him, though seemingly casually, but from the bottom of her heart. He walks down and becomes one among the people. All the three Krishna depictions, my favourites listed, were human. Such innovative depictions make one longing for more. Wish Nandanam never ended.
The ‘sambhavami yuge yuge’ mantra is alive and kicking, at least for tinsel town’s dream merchants. Krishna on screen has something very fascinating about him. There used to be a time when men and women thronged thatched ‘cinema talkies’ to see the Lord on screen. Some things never change. The on-screen Krishna aura still remains. He isn’t just god for the Indian. He is one among them, naughty and human, with a dash of divinity around him. Film makers have all through the years been overawed by this character, easy to conceive, but yet complex to be contained in a screen drama.For me, personally, three Krishna depictions on screen stand out. Of them, two graced the telly. And, look how different they turned out to be. The Krishna of Bharat Ek Khoj, Shyam Benegal’s take on Pandit Nehru’s Discovery of India, and the immensely divine and handsome Krishna of the televison epic Mahabharata. Both were memorable caricatures of a god more human than divine. While Benegal tried to make Krishna (Salim Ghouse in a memorable role) as human as possible, Nitish Bharadwaj’s Krishna boasted of all that was divine.Criticisms apart, Nitish’s Krishna had all that needed to keep people of all ages glued to the small screen on those Sunday mornings, with sandalwood sticks and diyas burning in a corner. Omnipresent he indeed was, in every home.Sunday nights were for the serious viewer, then. A few episodes of Bharat Ek Khoj had Krishna appear on weekend nights in human form - no frills attached. He was there on screen, clad in common man’s attire, dark and smiling. Yet another slice of history, that was Benegal’s Krishna. While Bharadwaj had the fantasy element all over his role, Ghouse was common man in walk and talk.Now spare a minute to judge, how successful Krishna depictions were on the big screen. Personally for me just one, honestly. The ultimate portrayal of the smiling naughty god with all that’s human came through the young Aravindan, the talented young actor who played the quintessential Unnikrishnan (or Unniyettan for the protagonist Balamani). Ranjith’s debut directorial venture, Nandanam (the film has come and gone, but it did conquer hundreds of hearts before it faded off the screen), would stay in memory for two factors - Navya Nair’s portrayal of Balamani and, more important, Aravindan’s Krishna depiction, a concept that beats all fantasies till date.Nandanam’s Krishna had in him all that needs to charm. The commendable fact being, all through the film, the Krishna character never once slips to be divine. He arrives when Balamani casually calls out him in a moment dipped in pathos. He arrives as the never-seen boy-next-door. Balamani thinks this is the Unniyettan she had been hearing of from Unnikrishnan’s mother. In him, Balamani sees a friend with whom she can discuss her woes, but not all, for that matter. Unni is always there when she needs relief. A love story gone awry, till the end, gets redeemed for her though it makes her lover’s kith and kin fighting over many an issue concerning a wedding. Unni plays the smiling naughty adviser, a friend god send. Only when her dreams turn real does she realise her friend wasnt god send, he was god himself. The last frames, when only Balamani is able to see Krishna waving at her and running back into the sanctum sanctorum of the famed Guruvayoorappan temple, make one left with a feeling of seeing him more. Nandanam’s Krishna is one of a kind.Krishna isn't someone who weilds the chakra or plays charioteer to the famed Pandava. Nandanam’s Krishna is not an incarnation, for that matter. He arrives when his admirer, a fan, a friend calls up to him, though seemingly casually, but from the bottom of her heart. He walks down and becomes one among the people. All the three Krishna depictions, my favourites listed, were human. Such innovative depictions make one longing for more. Wish Nandanam never ended.
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