The 16th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) this year, included the screening of films restored from 35mm film clips preserved by the National Film Development Chamber-National Film Archives of India (NFDC-NFAI). Among these was Pallavi (1976), writer-journalist P Lankesh’s first film, which won three national awards.
In his autobiography Huli Mavina Mara (A Sour Mango Tree,1977), P Lankesh recalls that he was driven by an inexplicable passion to create Pallavi, not withstanding his lack of prior experience with the medium. Pallavi was made against all odds, including Emergency being declared on the first day of shooting.
“We had chosen June 26, 1975, to start shooting, but that was the very day that Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency,” Lankesh writes. “Jayaprakash Narayan, George Fernandes, Madhu Limaye, and many other leaders were arrested. My engagement with a film at such a time seemed like a hypocritical escape from the critical reality of the day.”
Based on his novella Biruku (The Crack, 1967), Pallavi is about a young couple and how they deal with material success and failure (the woman succeeds, her boyfriend fails) and how it tears them apart.
Deep dive
Pallavi features the student aspirations of an egalitarian socialistic society, their activism, and the impending trauma of unemployment, themes characteristic of films in the ‘70s, as well as the striving of women for freedom in a male-dominated society.
A still from the film Pallavi
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Lankesh records the financial and emotional crisis he was going through in the early ‘70s in his memoir. When he decided to make a film, most of his friends, who had earlier promised to support him, backed out. Lankesh went ahead nevertheless, registering its title with the Information and Publicity Department and selling his house in Shivamogga for ₹1,25,000 to raise funds for the project.
Produced by Lankesh’s wife, Indira, Pallavi won three national awards — Second Best Feature Film, Best Feature Film in Kannada and Best Direction. Shot by S Ramachandra, a favourite of alternative cinema makers, it had TN Seetharam and Vimala Naidu playing the protagonists. Renowned sarod maestro, Rajiv Taranath, scored the music for Pallavi.
Fits and starts
Lankesh confesses that he felt like an illiterate upstart at the beginning of the venture. “I didn’t know where to start, even though I knew the film medium has a grammar of its own. I was determined, and S Ramachandra (cinematographer) helped me.”
”The film was allowed to run tax-free for two weeks after its release. We sought an extension of this privilege but Finance Minister, M Y Ghorpade, rejected our plea.”
In his book Nenapina Putagalu, TN Seetharam who plays the protagonist in Pallavi, recalls how Lankesh asked cameraman Tom Cowan whether he passed the screen test. When Tom answered in the affirmative, Lankesh announced him as the hero.
Cast of the film Pallavi
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Seetharaman says though he had misgivings about his ability to play the role, given his common place looks, Lankesh had said, “I only want someone like you. Your bandy legs, your struggle to speak English — these will suit the character well. I want my characters to suffer from an inferiority complex.” According to Seetharam, cameraman Ramachandra concurred with Lankesh.
Political leader CM Ibrahim was to play a role and was present for the first two days of shooting. However, on the third day, he was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and jailed. Lankesh stepped into the role in his stead.
About the public’s reception of Pallavi, Lankesh wrote, “People appreciated the film when it was shown on Doordarshan. Writers such as RK Narayan as well as British film critics expressed a high opinion of the film. They saw it as breaking accepted film grammar through its disjointed editing and a distinctive characterisation occurring as a result.”
Political connect
Former MLC and culture promoter Kondajji Mohan, who produced P Lankesh’s Ellindalo Bandavaru, says, “My meeting with Lankesh occurred under strange circumstances. Encouraged by the success of the DMK in using cinema to promote its ideology in Tamil Nadu, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) decided to follow suit. Jayapal Menon was charged with the production of film to serve such a purpose and my association with SFI (The CPM youth wing) saw me become the managing director of Navashakti Films Private Limited in 1980. Jayapal was keen on Lankesh as director going by the success of Pallavi.”
According to N Vidyashankar, artistic director of BIFFes, Kondajji was instrumental in securing a no-objection certification to screen Pallavi at the film festival.
In Ee Naraka-Ee Pulaka (This Hell and the Excitement), a collection of articles on films published in 2009, Lankesh remarks: “In the late seventies, my friends from Kerala associated with CPI(M) founded Navashakti Films Private Limited and procured new-wave films that dealt with social issues. They asked for rights of Pallavi from me. I was facing a serious financial crisis and sold the film for ₹25,000. By that time, Pallavi had won three national awards, and I got ₹1.25 lakhs. I repaid the debt borrowed for producing the film, and I did not anticipate any benefit from the film.”
“When the film was screened on Doordarshan, it received unprecedented popularity and rave reviews. My Communist friends from Kerala, who bought films including Pallavi, however, failed in getting their investment back. Navashakti was in a serious crisis. My friends advised me to buy back Pallavi and make money from Doordarshan. I rejected their suggestion and told my Communist friends to take whatever the film could earn.”
According to the 1998 edition of the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, Pallavi was one of three films with direct links to the Navya Movement, a cultural churning in the fine arts scene of Karnataka. British film historian Peter Howie wrote in the International Film Guide (1978): “Pallavi has some of the flaws common to a film, but is very competent and unswerving in its denunciation of the primitive role still accorded most Indian women.”
Published – July 22, 2025 12:47 pm IST
