Thampu [dir. G Aravindan]

The only films I'd previously seen of Malayalam auteur Govindan Aravindan are Chidambaram (repeatedly shown on  the national channel Doordarshan in the 80's) and Oridathu. From these, it seemed to me that Aravindan as film-maker was most interested in the cinéma vérité element - of documenting, and in the process looking at the inner stories of the ignored sections of society. Even his mythology inspired feature Kanchana Seetha was known for a very grounded treatment. Aravindan was, along with Mrinal Sen and Shyam Benegal one of the prime figures of the Indian New Wave film movement. His films are definitely of the sort which some people admiringly, and others dismissively, regard as "award-winning".

Thampu (1978), an early feature in his career, is heavily concerned with the documentary element. The film primarily observes the goings-on in a traveling circus that sets up in a small town. We become privy to the behind-the-scenes of their routines and get hints of their personal lives: the painstaking rehearsals, the last-minute preparations, the wordless friendships, the drunken soirees. There is a beautiful synchrony when an old clown putting on his make-up is juxtaposed with the primping up of the trained monkey. Another kind of resonance is achieved when the lure of the circus must compete against the attractions of the town's temple festival with its fireworks and drumbeats (ironically, the circus manager - played by Malayalam arthouse favorite Bharat Gopi - was previously steered into giving a donation for the festival).

There appears a larger "life is a circus" motif when the film looks at the life of the local industrialist and his family. Our man divides his life between furthering his business and guzzling drinks with friends while longingly reminiscing about his time in Malaysia and complaining about "this accursed country". His traditional wife sits ignored in the inner room, while his estranged son (a rather hip-looking Nedumudi Venu) spends time imbibing Indian classical from a local musician. I was not too taken with this facet of the film. It moves away from the circus milieu without being very interesting in itself.

Nedumudi Venu

Thampu has all the hallmarks of the Indian parallel cinema style. It severely eschews the exaggerations and embellishments of mainstream films. The bulk of the casting is composed of non-professionals (including actual members of the Great Chitra Circus, which is featured here). Shaji Karun's B&W photography is very naturalistic, not afraid to embrace darkness - In film restoration activist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur's discussions with him, Shaji Karun revealed that Aravindan forbade him to use additional lights for the night scenes. The sound design is digetic, including all the music and songs heard in the film. Editors Rameshan and Selvanathan give a lot of time to capturing the rhythm and atmosphere of his settings, and this is where the film shines. Given the episodic non-dramatic nature, there is no elaborate climax or lead-out; when the circus packs it in (including a lovely night-time shot of the tent being taken down) and leaves for another place, the film wraps up as well.

Interest in Thampu was revived after its restoration and screening at the 2022 Cannes film festival in the Classics section. Yesterday, I bunked office, and went for the screening of the restored Thampu at Regal cinema as part of the Film Heritage workshop on restoration. Although I had been suggested to come a half-hour before the scheduled time as there would be a queue and first-come-first-served, I was skeptical about a non-Hindi non-Satyajit Ray vintage Indian film filling the large-size auditorium and I was right in there being no difficulty over finding a good seat (Apparently, In the Mood for Love screened the previous night had been a packed affair).

Lucky for me, Shivendra Singh was also present for the screening. I got my Celluloid Man DVD signed by him and chatted a little about that film and Czechmate, his mega-documentary on Czech New Wave cinema maestro Jiří Menzel.

Regal Cinema in Colaba, Mumbai

With regards to the restoration, one thing to keep in mind is that Thampu was a low-budget arthouse film shot with natural light, and the restoration was sourced from a dupe negative. So the visuals are not ultra-crisp. There is softness and the blacks can appear somewhat diffuse (I can't say if the hall projection limitations had anything to contribute to this). But the most striking benefit is in how absolutely stable the image is. There is no flickering, warping or prominent scratches. The gray-scale is not exceptional, but it is quite solid all the same; I imagine some of the night scenes are looking the best they did since the original release. Similarly, the sound is not absolutely pristine (there is a floor hum and some clipping), but it still sounds very lively when called for, especially in the scenes of the temple festival. Aravindan paid a lot of attention to developing a credible audio atmosphere to complement the scenes and the restoration does the best possible justice to his vision.

Thampu would not come in a favorite movies list for me, but it is an important contribution to the Indian arthouse and this restoration makes it doubly worthwhile for cinephiles to try and catch this when they can. For those interested, the restored version is currently available on Youtube here: