50 years of friendship: Director T V Chandran shares memories of Shaji N Karun
My first memory of him goes back to the stunning visuals he captured for Thampu, a film that remains one of my all-time favourites even today. After the shoot, Aravindan, John Abraham, Chandralekha, Sadananda Menon, and I gathered in Madras. We were all mesmerised by the visuals Shaji had captured. That is where our friendship began.
In fact, it never felt like we didn't collaborate, because most of my cinematographers -- Sunny Joseph, Madhu Ambattu, and others -- came from what I often call Shaji's school of training. Whenever Shaji arrived on set, it was nothing short of a celebration.
His candid camera work was astonishing. In
Thampu
, he captured several breathtaking moments. One that has stayed with me is a shot of a child from the circus troupe smoking a 'beedi'. It was a raw, unguarded moment caught with such authenticity that it still moves me. Shaji had an extraordinary gift for absorbing the essence of a moment without losing its naturality.
We have a long history of spending time together, often at Aravindan's place, bonded by our shared admiration for his work. I was also part of the post-production team for
Thampu
. The memory of going through those 40,000 rushes still feels alive.
Our early days at the Calcutta Film Festival in 1990 are a trove of memories too. I was there with Alicinte Anweshanam and Shaji with
Piravi
, both of us featured in the Indian Panorama section. Both of us were beginners then and our bond grew stronger. Later, in Mumbai, we spent nearly a week together.
Over the years, we served on many committees together, the last one being in 2023 when we were part of the search committee for the chairman of the K R Narayanan Institute. We spent about a month and a half together during that time. One of the moments I cherish most was being able to suggest Shaji's name for the J C Daniel Award to the chief minister. He was so happy about it and had mentioned it to me.
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Mask keeps extending his paw and refuses to let go once I touch him; while Simba is in his own world playing with a ball, Jo is like a fidgety child. This is a celebrity rendezvous for me. These canines have 'acted' in films, short films, ad films and television serials. Their latest claim to fame is the second season of the web series, Kerala Crime Files (KCF), directed by Ahammed Khabeer, streaming on JioHotstar. I 'meet' them on the first floor of an under-construction building, around 100 metres from the busy Balaramapuram junction in Thiruvananthapuram. There are seven other dogs, two Persian cats and Kathu, an indie cat, all of which belong to Jijesh S and Shaji Balaramapuram, who train animals and birds for the camera. Dogs are crucial to the narrative of KCF, an intriguing police story about a missing civil police officer and an ex-convict. 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But if you are willing to spend as much time with it, the task becomes smooth.' Shaji also has been a pet lover from childhood. 'An inspiration has been Sanjayan KP, veteran dog trainer who was with the BSF. I used to watch his videos and tried that on my dog. Later I bought a horse and trained it. I sought the help of a friend in Mysore when I had to do verticals,' says Shaji, 48. His major works are Pulimurugan, Parava, Panchavarnathatha in which he trained several animals, including emu, horse, donkey, camel, goat, iguana, etc, Kayamkulam Kochunni and Uriyadi. In Poovan he trained a rooster for the first time. 'I came across this fiesty rooster in my neighbourhood, who was sold to a meat shop after his owner had enough of him. However, I paid a hefty amount to buy him and named him Mani. Initially, it was difficult even to catch him. But eventually he became friendly. In Poovan, he would crow at any time I commanded, provided we gave him treats! 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There is always a risk especially when dogs have scenes on busy roads. The indie dogs are street smart and so they easily adapt if a situation arises whereas other breeds do not have the same reflexes,' Jijesh says. The profession gets risky for the trainers too. Shaji, for instance, once broke two ribs, when the buffalo he trained for the web series Perilloor Premier League, got scared during an action sequence and stamped him on the chest. The duo stresses that they send health reports of the animals to the Animal Welfare Board every three months. In spite of the challenges, the profession has its share of fun as well. Like, working with ferret in Bramayugam and rat in Malayalee from India and Rudhiram. 'It took time to tame the ferret. Books and videos helped. As for rat, I guide it using a rattle. It is one animal that never strays off the route once we teach it. We keep mealworms and superworms as well, which are often used as feed for our exotic pets. These worms are needed for scenes where they show decomposed bodies,' Jijesh says. Finally we are introduced to Iliana, the ball python, a star in several photoshoots and horror movies. 'She cannot be trained but can be tamed,' Shaji says.
