A rare interview: Talking to The Hindu about MYR, my Ramayana, Mba, and more…
Apr 8th, 2008 by Ashok
The interview below was published in The Hindu, Chennai today. I’ve taken the liberty of reproducing the entire text of the interview below. Or you can read the Interview on The Hindu website here.
You can bank on him
After his six-volume saga of the Ramayana, Ashok Banker tells MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER he enjoyed revisiting the epic for the animated film, Mahayoddha Rama
Ashok Banker describes his coming on board the animated feature film “Mahayoddha Rama” as “Serendipitous. I had just completed a mammoth retelling of the Ramayana in six novels. Director Raizada Rohit Jaising Vaid and producer Abhimanyu Singh were trying to get in touch with me for over two months to script the movie. And then I happened to move into the same building they lived in.”
the latest animation techniques
Banker said he agreed to the project as he was infected with the makers’ enthusiasm. “When you are attempting something like this, there are two dangers you should watch out for. You should not offend anyone and nor should you be too fundamentalist. You should not be too rightist or leftist but rather just fly overhead, which is what the makers set out to do.”
Different eyes
Banker admits the first draft did not work out. “It was only when I looked at the text with the wonder of an eight-year-old that it all came together. The movie is infected with a child-like enthusiasm.”
Banker says that while it is not possible to match the deep pockets of Hollywood, ‘“Mahayoddha Rama’ matches the best of Hollywood in terms of zest and passion.”
To his pleasant surprise, Banker realised that he had not repeated a single line from his Ramayana series.
Incidentally, the rights for the books have been sold to Hollywood for live-action features. “I realised it is possible to retell a story without repeating yourself. If all the people on earth were to tell the same story you can be sure you would get six billion versions of it. Honestly, the task seemed impossible at first. I give credit to Rohit and Abhimanyu; as it is their vision that I built on.”
Being an animation film, Banker comments, “Mahayoddha…” lends itself to a playfulness and an inventiveness. “While the core story is retained, it is history on a wing, so to speak.” Unlike his books with their wider canvas and darker tone, the movie is a straightforward battle between good and evil. Banker does not feel that Indian mythology has suddenly become hot. “The West has been commercially exploiting their mythologies in music, movies and art forever. Western-educated Asians have become slightly ashamed of their own mythologies. There is, however, a small percentage of people who don’t think so and are paving the way for myths to be cool again.”
The writer and columnist does not think animation movies like “Hanuman” is indicative of a renaissance of Indian mythology. “The films and television series don’t break any new ground.” Future plans include a nine-part book series on the Mahabharata. On choosing to start with the Ramayana rather than the racier, pacier Mahabharata, the Mumbai-based Banker says: “It was a greater challenge. Being of mixed origins racially and religiously, I was at a point when I was trying to make sense of faith. I believe to understand India, we have to understand the Ramayana. Rama is in a sense a typical Indian male. And I felt if I could get a fix on Rama, it would help me get my bearings. Rama is a vital key to our culture.”
Of the decision to use modern idioms in his Ramayana series, the 44-year-old comments: “I used the word ‘abs’ in the first page of the first book, ‘The Prince of Ayodhya’. There are two voices in the books — the writer, that is my voice and the character’s voice. So when I am describing something, I would use a modern idiom because that is my voice, while when there is dialogue, which is what the characters are speaking, they would use words like Pitashri. And if I had only used English, it would have sounded affected and pretentious.”
There is no chance of that happening with Banker’s works, given his Rama comes across as this cool Neo-like character and his Ravana is easily the meanest baddie to stalk the written world!
