It is not exactly high definition, the clarity is not the best and the audio could be clearer, but, really, a viewer couldn't care less. What’s on-screen is a rare, old video of actor Mohanlal – one of the top stars in Malayalam cinema – singing as a young man of 26. He sings boldly, courageously and apologetically as he puts it. He is not a singer, and in all his films, it is the talented playback singers who give voice to the songs, but he is still going to perform for his audience, says Mohanlal before plunging into the classic ‘Vennila cholayile’. Very unlike the shy and reticent self of later years, Mohanlal also adds humorously, “I would need the help of Mr Krishna Chandran (singer) on the stage, to tell me when to start and when to stop, for I have no idea about these things.”
You hear a scatter of laughter from the unseen audience in the video. Now, for the credits. This old video – no less than 35 years old – has been dug up, carefully restored and shared on YouTube by a man born the same year the video was taken – 1986. Rahul Lalu R has kept every single video he, his friends or family has recorded from numerous shows and interviews over decades. He not only kept them safe and uncorrupted but carefully removed the fungus on old dysfunctional tapes and restored them. For a year now, he has been diligently uploading these rare videos, like Mohanlal singing, interviews of actors before the time interviews were so everyday, forgotten television advertisements, programmes and more.
In the description of his YouTube channel – Orbit Videovision – Rahul simply writes that he is addicted to nostalgia.
Watch: Mohanlal singing in 1986
“I did not have any idea that these videos would go viral. I had very little idea about YouTube itself. But I do know how to work with cassettes, tapes, VCRs. I can restore most old films thought beyond repair,” Rahul says.
He has a diploma in electronics engineering and has always been interested in the subject. He now works as a government employee in Thiruvananthapuram, but spends most of his spare time on his “nostalgia addiction”.
A few months ago, Rahul’s channel put out an old documentary about legendary actor Prem Nazir, made a little after his death in 1989. You could see younger versions of Mammootty, another top star in Malayalam cinema, and KJ Yesudas, a much-admired singer in Kerala, and others talk about Nazir. Recently Rahul uploaded another Nazir video – an articulate speech by the yesteryear star before an audience in America, circa 1985. This is a side of Nazir few have witnessed, for public speeches by actors rarely got recorded back then. Or even if they did, the recorded videos were sparsely available on public platforms. But here, you can watch and hear Nazir eloquently talk about India, where it is headed, and introduce his co-actors on the stage.
Watch: Prem Nazir's speech in the US, 1985
“The first of my videos that got a lot of attention was the 1991 Film Critics Award,” Rahul says, but I interrupted him to ask how he recorded it. He must have been five years old then.
“All you had to do was press a button on the VCR and I would do that for all the programmes I liked to watch on TV. Sometimes it would be done so that other members of the family could watch it later. Once I started this collection, others began sending old videos or footage to me, sometimes to restore them, sometimes just to post them,” Rahul says and delves into his pet subject of opening up a VCR. He explains his “cleaning method” for restoring old infected tapes. From there he slips to the naming of his channel – the ‘orbit’ comes from the path that electrons of atom travel on.
Rahul's collection of VCRs and other players
Rahul can talk knowledgeably and passionately about his love for old recordings. Obviously, there is a generation that shares his nostalgia, the television commercials and programmes bringing back memories of school days and more. Early interviews with actor Nayanthara, who is now a star in Tamil cinema; and Navya Nair, an actor of early 2000s Malayalam cinema, are available on Rahul’s channel. So are award receptions from the 1990s featuring Mammootty, Mohanlal and Manju Warrier, the latter then a teen actor.
Watch: Interview of Nayanthara in 2000
Among his commercials, is one of Tamil actor Vivek, who passed away in April this year, playing a part in a Malayalam ad from the late 1980s. Other videos include Shobana speaking in a beautiful voice– little heard in Malayalam films when it was mostly dubbing artistes that spoke for her – at the International Film Festival of India in 1997; Nedumudi Venu interviewing Mohanlal; episodes of ‘Chithrageetham’ and ‘Smirthilayalam’ – early music shows on Doordarshan; all attracting viewers to Orbit Videovision like bees to honey.
Watch: 1988 Malayalam commercial of late Tamil actor Vivek
“Those were not days when you had numerous private channels or when you watched new films every few days. In my home, my father used to be strict, and we would go to the local film theatre once or twice a year. So one major entertainment was renting video cassettes for holidays. But they cost Rs 10 a cassette. Children in the neighbourhood exchanged video cassettes more than books. Those days we had all the time in the world but no money. Today it is the other way around – young people have money but no time in their fast lives,” says Rahul, turning a tad philosophical.
Watch: Manju Warrier as teen getting an award in 1997
He wishes to set up a library of his collection in an old house. There are many more surprise videos coming up, he promises. He has with him 200-odd video cassettes, 20 VCRs, a number of LP records and audio cassettes. Watching some of his restored videos, people began sending him more. He is now working on restoring the wedding video of Dennis Joseph, a renowned scriptwriter who recently passed away. Restoring the past is something Rahul never gets tired of.