Films
Audio
Films
email shajikarun@vsnl.com
1974 Genesis (Short film)
79 Wild Life of Kerala (Short Film)
80 Kerala Carnival (Short Film)
86 Kannikal (Short Film)
88 Piravi (Long Film)
94 Swaham (Long Film)
96 Sham's Vision (Short Film)
98 Bhavam (Short Film). Vanaprastham (Long Film)
00 G.Aravindan (Short Film)
02 Big Man& Small World (Short Film). Nishad (Long Film)
03 Gaatha (Long Film) under production
05 Mohanjo-Daro (Long Film) Under proposal.
PIRAVI Selection Official Cannes 1989
Starring: Premji, Archana, Lakshmi Krishnamoorthy, C.V. Sreeraman, Mullenezhi, GopalakrishnanStory: S. Jayachandran Nair Screenplay : Shaji N Karun, S. Jayachandran Nair, Ragunath Paleri Audiography:Krishnanunny Art Direction: Devan Editing: Venugopal Cinematography: Sunny Jose Music: G.Aravindan Produced by: Film Folk Directed by: Shaji N Karun
Synopsis: In a little village in the state of Kerala in South India, a frail but dogged old man Chakyar (Premji) waits in hope for his missing son Raghu to return. Raghu had disappeared the month earlier during a political demonstration banned by the 'State of Emergency.' In the hope of news, the old man goes daily by boat to the pier, which is the terminus for the bus that runs daily between his village and Trivandrum, and waits patiently at the bus stop for Raghu's return. Learning of the boy's arrest, he goes to Trivandrum to meet the Home Minister, once his prot�g�. He returns to the village reassured that his son will eventually return. The man's daughter (Archana) however doesn't share her father's optimism and through her own investigation learns that her brother probably died in police custody after being tortured but she cannot bear to tell her father who continues to hope and search. However the old man's grip on reality is slipping fast and he starts dreaming his son is with him...
Language: Malayalam, 35mm, 108Minutes, Colour, Optical sound, 1:1.38 1988. Festivals & Awards
SWAHAM Selection Official Cannes 94 In competition
Starring: Aswani, Sarath, Venmani Vishnu, Haridas, BharathGopi Script: Shaji N Karun, S. Jayachandran Nair Camera: Hari Nair Music: K Raghavan, Isaac Thomas Kottukapally
Synopsis: Swaham sketches the plight of a widowed mother and her children whose small coffee-shop no longer returns enough income to feed the family. The family of Ramayyar holds a small coffee shop in an isolated village. Ramayyar, an affectionate husband, dies in an accident. His wife Annapoorna, only finds herself with two children.
After her husband's death, Annapoorna's life rocks in the black and white, with time, and sometimes the colour of her life returns - the time of happiness - through her memories ... Her son must find work, but one needs money "to buy" a promise of employment... Her daughter is still young, full with the unconcern of the children, vis-�-vis with a misfortune which really does not touch them. They are likely to be expelled from their house by their owner, who needs money to marry his daughter off - the dowry -, always the dowry! Then, she is forced to go up the soapy slopes of life...and to resist the anaesthesia of the happy memories... Will the colours of her life return or the black will end up devouring the white?
Language: Malayalam, 35mm, 146Minutes, Colour and B&W, Optical sound, 1:1.66 1994 Festivals & Awards
VANAPRASTHAM Selection Official Cannes 99
Cast: Mohanlal Suhasini Mattanoor S. Marar Kukku Parameshwaram Music: Zakir Hussain Screenplay: Shaji Karun Ragunath PaleriProducer: Mohanlal & Pierre Assouline Photography: Satosh Sivan & Renato Berta Director: Shaji Karun
Synopsis: Southern India, 1930's, Kunhikuttan is the son of a low caste woman, Baghi, a servant to Namboothiri, the Lord of the manor. She suspects that Namboothiri is Kunhikuttan's father, but she refuses to reveal the truth to her son. At age 10, Kunhikuttan begins the long and arduous apprenticeship of Kathakali, a revered ancient art that combines pantomime, opera, and dance. After some years, Kunhikuttan's talent is widely recognized. The pain of now knowing his father and being forced by Namboothiri into an unhappy marriage, is seen in the power of his enigmatic performances. One night, the beautiful Subhadra comes to see Kunhikuttan dance the legendary saga, the Mahabarata. Married into the closed world of high society, Subhadra can no longer distinguish between reality and fiction. She becomes consumed by her passion for the hero of the Mahabarata, and falls in love, not with Kunhikuttan, but with Arjuna, whom he embodies on stage
Language: Malayalam, 35mm, Panavision, Scope, 119Minutes, Colour, Dolby Digital 1999 Festivals & Awards
Cast Archana, Rajit Kapur, Geshe Thupten-Phelgyei Master Jhang Ray Ram Gopal Bajaj Rameshwari Screen play: Shaji Karun & Valsalan Vathusseri, Producer: Sukhwant Dhadda, Editor: Sreekar Prasad, Photography: Hari Nair, Music: Isaac Thomas Kottukapally, Direction: Shaji Karun
Synopsis: 1971- The Atmosphere is tense with the possibility of a war between India and Pakistan. A mistaken call from a young boy trying desperately to reach his mother 'Gomati amma' disrupts the peace and tranquillity of their home of Sati and Gopi Gujral, a couple in their fifties, leading a placid life....Sati is a part time music teacher in a school for Tibetan children run by the Tibetan government-in-exile and Gopi is a doctor in a government hospital. Their only son, Ashok is a pilot with the Indian Air Force, and calls home at an appointed time, unerringly every week. Ashok's call itself gives Sati immense joy and its regularity brings her great comfort ....The wrong calls keep coming. Each time, it is the same child's voice; the desperation in the voice is more sharply etched. Sati Gujral finds herself a prisoner to her own mental demons. For Sati, there is the anguish of the news itself, besides her own inability to convey it to the right quarters. There is, too, the greater anguish of not getting Ashok's call at the appointed hour. The two emotions trigger a frantic bid to try and trace down the 'Gomati amma' but it is met with little success.....Sati Gujral's worry deepens, along with her constant worry. The next call is curt and brief. "The child passed away. The funeral is tomorrow".....
"Ashok's calls that have been so far unerring err and don't come at all".....Are Ashok's calls too are going to a wrong number?"
Language: Hindi 35mm. Wide Screen 1:66, Sound Dolby Digital, 118 Mts. 2002 Festivals & Awards
