TRANSCREATING A FICTION IN CELLULOID: N.

MOHANANS MINNAMINUNG AS PULARVETTAM

ABSTRACT For most people film adaptation of literature can be summed up in one sentence the movie wasnt as good as the book. This people try to show the reader that not only this evaluation not always true but sometimes it is intrinsically unfair. Movies based on literary works while often build as adaptation are more correctly termed as translations. A director and his actors translate the story from the written page into a visual presentation. Depending on the form of the original text and the chosen method of translation certain inherent difficulties and pitfalls are associated with this change of medium. So often are receptions of a book-based movie has more to do with our expectations and reading of the literature than with the job that the movie production did or did not do. N. Mohanan deserves a place among the top story tellers by making Malayalam short stories as thoroughly enjoyable as the Bhagavataham condensed or soul music. He is the son of the famous writer Lalithambika Antharjanam. He is also known for his adeptness in short stories. The first thing we notice about N. Mohanan is that all of his stories are hymns of love. Although a change in medium occurs when a story transforms into a film, they do not lose their quality but rather gain a renowned glitter. In 2001, when the story was made into a movie, directed by Harikumar, the name Minnaminung was changed to Pularvettam by O.N.V Kurup. The story was written in 1959. When the script written by Mohanan in 1989 is analyzed along with the story, the transformation arises curiosity and interest in the minds of the audience as they are excited to see the picturisation of what they read long ago. Both the Minnaminung or the fire-fly and pularvettam or breaking dawn bring about light amidst the darkness. This light is the writers love, his soothing consolation to his fellow beings. The film is nothing but a celebration of maternal love and brotherhood. In a world where love and humanity are being given go by for petty gains, the director conveys the message of love and humanity through the travails in the life of an eight-year old boy, Appu. This desolate

soul, who lost his parents, lives under the care of his grandparents. The light of love dawns on Appus lfe when a school teacher comes to stay with the family as a paying guest. Gradually she became an incarnation of maternal affection for Appu. He sees his mother and sister in his teacher. And his character too undergoes a thorough change. Appu is the representative of the children of the present age who are deprived of their parents affection due to various reasons. The script was based on the late N.Mohanans story Minnaminung. The screen play was written jointly by Mohanan and Harikumar. The primary outline of producing a film is its script. Imagination, hardwork, and a detailed study is required for making a good script. A screen play or script is a written work that is made especially for a film. In them the movements, actions, expressions and dialogues of the characters are also narrated. There are many methods for creating a script. Every writer writes a script according to his own taste, attitudes and manner of thinking. The sequence of events that unwind in the characters life is the basis of the script. Those who have the clear imagination and a destined goal in front of them can easily create the required events and characters for their script. Due to a long gap of thirty years between the original story and the script, the biggest challenge that the script writer must have faced must be the vast change in the social setting and conditions that existed long back when the story was written. Cautiously plucking the characters from the old setting to a more contemporary one and at the same time not giving away the originality that existed in the story and presenting the characters in a new backdrop is certainly a big hurdle, which the script writers must have faced. And yet he accomplished the task most beautifully. While the story moves through further interpretations, exclusions and inclusions into a script the basic foundation remains unchanged and at the grass-root level it still tells the tale of a rural Malayali life. Inspite of the space and time he could recreate the literary consciousness of that period to the contemporary audiences. It is his success as a screen writer and a story writer. The old story and its new cinematic face were equally successful in spreading the miraculous message of love and humanity to the audience.

Dr. Anjali Abraham