Harshan Dulari: Mirage that allured stars like Mohanlal, Sridevi, AR Rahman

It was the mid nineties. Director Fazil was basking within the glory of Manichithrathazhu. Mohanlal was busy scaling new heights in his profession. That was once they heard it — Harshan Dulari, a love story like by no means earlier than.

Penned by Madhu Muttam, the display author of Manichithrathazhu, Harshan Dulari was to painting the romantic lifetime of a ghazal singer. Fazil and Mohanlal jumped in, as did Sridevi and AR Rahman. “I’m not insisting you do that with me, however do it one way or the other, Pachikka (Fazil)…,” Mohanlal had stated.

AR Rahman held Fazil’s palms after the narration and instructed him he favored the topic a lot. Fazil himself felt drawn in direction of it like by no means earlier than.

However the movie, regardless of its inherent promise and potential, by no means took off. Why did Fazil stroll away from what he referred to as his “dearest dream”? What pulled him again with the identical vigour with which it captured his thoughts? The director defined this in an earlier interview to ieMalayalam.

“It was my favorite topic. One thing that captivated Mohanlal additionally. Harshan Dulari is a problem I took up, tried, misplaced and backed out,” stated Fazil, probably the most profitable administrators in Malayalam cinema. “It was an awesome concept. It had one thing that made me need to make that movie. However I felt that I won’t be able to convey the climax of the film in a convincing method.”

Fazil had simply made Manichithrathazhu, a movie extensively accepted by each cinefans and critics. Hailed as one of many milestones of Malayalam cinema, the movie broke all field workplace information and gained an iconic standing over time.

Manichithrathazhu was a psychological thriller, with components of thriller, fantasy and ‘manthravadam’ (conjuration/sorcery). It was not a straightforward script to visualise and it had a make or break climax. It might have gone awry if not accomplished with excessive warning. However Fazil and crew pulled it off. Nonetheless, the expertise and perception didn’t infuse confidence whereas planning Harshan Dulari.

“Everybody understands psychological points, horror. We have now seen this at many ranges. Manichithrathazhu spoke a few psychological well being situation that was acquainted. Harshan Dulari, the climax in particular, was about one attaining ‘Athma Sakshathkaram’ (self realisation).

Solely those that have attained that know what they’re experiencing. How do I present a state, which I’m unfamiliar with, to my viewers? I can not comprehend what Satya Sai Baba, Ramana Maharshi, Rajaneesh or Mata Amritanandamayi went by. It can’t be imparted to somebody, nor can or not it’s instructed. Having realised the challenges, I needed to drop that movie. And I did it with profound disappointment. At instances, I had considered remodeling on it with deal with music, however was not assured sufficient,” he recalled.

Many years later, author Madhu Muttam says he’s attempting to revive Harshan Dulari. Muttam told ieMalayalam in an interview that he, alongside together with his co-writer Latha Lekshmi, is remodeling the story’s remedy to make it extra modern.

Latha Lekshmi’s notable work is Thirumugal Begum, a novel loosely primarily based on the lifetime of musician Annapurna Devi. “The undertaking has received a brand new lease of life. With a co-writer on board, I really feel energised and excited to work on it once more. We have now up to date the story.

Some administrators have approached me after having heard about this. Actor Vikram as soon as referred to as to speak about this. I get at the least three to 4 calls each month to speak about Harshan Dulari. It amazes me that the story has sustained the interest-factor all these years,” stated Muttam.

He additionally lamented the loss of life of actors – Sridevi, Sankarady, Nedumudi Venu, KPAC Lalitha – who had been a part of the preliminary plan.

Whatever the plans future maintain for Harshan Dulari, will probably be to proceed to have a particular place in Malayalam cinema. As an ever-enchanting dream, a mirage that allured each stars and filmmakers.