Saturday, June 13, 2020

Mammooty – Madrasile Mon in Poojapura Central Jail



The posting in the harringtonpostnews.blogpost.com by my friend about the Karrikan Villa murder led me to think about this murder case that rocked Kerala. The main gang leader Reni George serving sentence in jail had led to my over sleeping in a cell in the block earmarked for lifers. My first outing inside a prison and that too with Mammooty as my cellmate . Yet another memory that comes is about Thampi Kannathanam ( a big time producer- director) who is no more). Like anybody arriving in Kerala from Chennai is seen today  as chen -nayi ( wolf) after Covid, the Karikkan villa case gave all from Madras the title of Madrasile Mon. Sometime in the eighties , I had to go and restore a house bequeathed to my mother by my Late father. The tenant refused to vacate the house. I went with my mother to our house and she said – He is my eldest son. Tenant- Oh, Madrasile Mon. Do you think you can scare me? I realized that we people in Madras have this image, like we have in Mumbai – Madrasi. Now is it Covid karan ?.
Getting back to Poojapura  Central Jail and Reni George. It was the shooting of ` Mathilukal’ in the jail. Mammooty told me that I had to be at the entrance when the cast and crew went inside. I was not shown as journalist as it will need higher- up permission. The cell block where we set up the unit was an empty one. Each cell was makeup room, resting room etc. As with director Adoor’s practice, everybody spoke in hushed tones. Nobody shouted Lights, Camera, Action and Cut. Most of the time  Mammooty was leaning on the jail wall and smiling and saying dialogues. Sometimes walking. In between breaks, Mammooty came to the cell where I was sitting on a cement bench (the bed of prisoner). We had our lunch. We were chatting and having cups of black tea. In walked a person in convict dress. He and Mammooty seemed to know each other. He asked if everything was okay. I thought he was a side actor given charge of looking after the unit.
As Mammooty was called for the shot, he told the actor in convict dress – “Keep him engaged. He is a friend “.  I asked him his name and he said Reni. I asked him if he had any good scenes. He laughed and said – I am a life prisoner in this jail. I looked around and there was nobody around.  Me and this lifer in a deserted cell. I cursed myself, as I had said that the shooting was too boring and not to make me come and see it. Slowly, I asked him about what was the crime? He said – So, Mammuka has not told you about me. I am the famous Madrasile Mon of Karrikan Villa murder case. The next line he said took my breath away. “Time for my prayers. May God bless you, my child,” and Reni walked away. I just spread my legs on the cement bench and went into a trance. Visuals of Ravikumar- Raveendran- Mohanlal- Ummer- Sheela from Madrasile Mon played out in my subconscious. Sound of stick beating on the jail gate, I heard and when it grew louder, I woke up. A man in Khaki dress with a stick asked me – Do you want to stay here forever?
The whole crew was waiting at the gate. They cannot go without leaving behind one person. As I was not a crew member, nobody remembered me. Only at the gate, they were told that I was missing. Anyway, later in the hotel room, I asked Mammooty about this Reni. He said that as he had been coming many days before me, Reni and he became friends. Reni and his friends were once terror inside the jail and out on parole, he got `enlightenment’ at a prayer meeting that he thought was a place to hatch a robbery. Years later, I met Thampi Kannathanam who spoke about his start of friendship with Mohanlal on the sets of Madrasile Mon. Thampi had acted in the film. I told him about the meeting with Reni. Thampi said after two years of the film’s release, the producer Malliath Brothers had a visitor. It was Reni out on parole. He said pay up for using him and the case for the film. He was paid Rs 50,000 cash and Thampi says that the money was given to a jail official.



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