Christmas morning began with a bunch of different wishes for director Fazil. Actors, directors and technicians were calling him to wish him for Christmas along with two anniversaries: the day his first film Manjil Virinja Pookkal was released 40 years ago, and the day his masterpiece Manichithrathazhu
In an interview with TNM, Fazil speaks about that first film, Manjil Virinja Pookkal, popping up as it did like an unusual flower with a bunch of new talents and unconventional ideas. Fazil was new, all three of his main actors — Shankar the hero, Poornima Jayaram the heroine and Mohanlal the villain — were new, the composer of all five beautiful songs of the film — Jerry Amaldev — was new. Only the producers were not – Navodaya, one of the first film production studios in Malayalam, with Navodaya Appachan heading it. Fazil was then in the creative team of Navodaya and had floated the idea of a new film with newcomers. It was fondly accepted by Appachan and his sons — director Jijo Punnoose and producer Jose Punnoose.
Auditions began soon enough. Shankar had already worked in a Tamil film, he was making his debut in Malayalam. Poornima and Mohanlal were new, after the latter’s first film Thiranottam — made with friends — was shelved. The story of Mohanlal’s audition for Manjil Virinja Pookkal has been famously told so often, Fazil tells TNM.
But there was more to the story of how three of the panelists judging the audition gave him less than 10 marks out of 100, while Fazil and Jijo Punnose (director of My Dear Kuttichathan) gave 90 and 95 each. “Before the audition, I had told Jijo that for a change, I wanted the villain to be a ‘nanamkunungi’ — have the appearance of a shy man. So when we watched Mohanlal audition, we had this in mind, and were happy with the performance. But the other three — director Sibi Malayil (who was then associate director), Jose Punnoose, and Aman — did not know this,” Fazil says. (Less than 10 years later, Mohanlal would win Special Mention at the National Awards for his performance in Sibi Malayil’s Kireedam.)
When Manjil Virinja Pookkal released in December 1980, there was an initial lull in the theatres. It was only weeks since Jayan, who had risen to be a superstar in the late 1970s, died during the stunt sequence of a film, falling from a helicopter. Jayan was only 41 and fans everywhere were mourning his untimely death, rushing to the theatres to watch his last few films. So, Manjil Virinja Pookkal ran silently, ignored for the first few days, until word began to spread about the new set of actors and the new director and the oh-so-melodious-songs.
The movie dealt with a love triangle. Shankar played Prem Kishan, who moves to Kodaikanal for work, with a curious taste for shawls and chewing gum. He meets Prabha (Poornima) in the hills, the daughter of a man he has to consult for work. After a romance develops between the two of them, the villain of the story, Narendran (Mohanlal) enters the scene with the famous line, “Good evening, Mrs Prabha Narendran.”
In their first encounter, Prem knocks Narendran down. Later, when Narendran makes a reappearance, his right leg is fractured, he holds onto a walking stick and brings goons to fight Prem. “That image of Mohanlal with a fracture was picked up by mimicry artistes of the day and it somehow helped in his popularity. Originally, the scene was not planned in that manner. What you see in the scene is not prosthetics, Mohanlal really had a leg injury at the time,” Fazil says.
The fight sequence — a crucial one — had been set up with the help of great stunt masters of the time, who had worked in Amitabh Bachchan’s Deewar. It was to take place in a factory godown. However, on the previous day, Mohanlal, riding a motorbike, collided with Fazil and team’s jeep which was going the same way. “Along with me were Appachan, Jijo and Sibi. Mohanlal suffered a leg injury in the crash and was hospitalised. We waited for a day, but his leg was in a cast, and the stunt team had set up the scene all ready for shooting. By evening, I thought of a change in script. We changed lines so that Narendran would say that his injury is from the last day when Prem knocked him down. And the walking stick he carries has a sword inside it which he pulls out for the fight,” Fazil says.
Fight sequence with the injured leg
For the whole scene, Mohanlal hopped around, his leg really in a cast. Fazil thinks it is destiny. “I think it was destiny that made me tell Jijo about this need for a 'nanamkunungi' just before the audition, and it was destiny that led to an accident on the previous day of a crucial fight scene.”
Destiny for what Mohanlal would become in the days to come.
Manjil Virinja Pookkal is today regarded by many as a new-generation film of the time. It ended up a box-office success as well as winning several awards, six state awards among them.