Tovino Thomas on surviving 2018 Kerala floods retelling the story: I thought it was the end didnt want to remind people of the disaster
Tovino Thomas talks quite passionately and sincerely about his latest release 2018, a survival thriller based on 2018 Kerala floods as the actor himself witnessed the destruction wreaked by rain in his state. In this interview with indianexpress.com, Tovino opened up about how he and his family coped with the the worst flood in Kerala in nearly a century. Over a 100 people died and thousands were left homeless. Tovino, during the time got involved in the flood relief efforts and reveals how at one point, when the incessant rains wouldn't stop, he thought "this is the end" and didn't know if his family would be safe. Tovino goes back in time and remembers how difficult that time was for him, his family, and the people of Kerala. The actor had been active in flood relief efforts and had even opened his house to people. "During the 2018 floods, amidst the rescue operations, we didn't know where the wells were. there were pits and wells. There were snakes in the water, washed up from all the sewage and septic tanks. You know how it is to walk in that water?! I started getting a lot of rashes and we had to take precautionary injections for a lot of diseases. While shooting it was equally hard but we knew we were safe." View this post on Instagram A post shared by TovinoThomas (@tovinothomas) The actor said his wife kept asking why he was never at home as she didn't know how serious the condition was and that he was trying to contribute to the rescue efforts. He shares, "That phase was. I had just finished shooting one film and returned home. My parents, my brother, his wife and kids, my wife and I and our child, we all live together. My wife was complaining that I was not at home. She would say even after finishing the shoot, you came home and you are roaming around with your friends. We didn't tell her what is happening outside the house. We didn't let them go out because it was not safe. They were watching news about other places, there was no news about Irinjalakuda where I live, but three kilometres away the water was till neck level. My brother, father and I knew the exact situation. We kept our family safe, didn't let our father to not go outside so he stays safe but me and my brother went out and helped." Remembering one such scary night when he thought it would be his house that will be gutted in the floods next, Tovino shared, "At night it was still pouring heavily and my wife and child were asleep but I could hear the sound of the rain. I would keep checking from my window and the only thought I had was that water levels are already so high and so close to home. I was worried that if it continues to rain like that even our area would flood and I didn't know how I'd save my family because there was water all over and roads were destroyed. I thought that was the end, I was just waiting. The situation was similar in all the districts of Kerala as we have the sea on all the sides and in the hilly regions there were landslides. But even during the calamity, the people of Kerala stood together and that's when I realised that humanity and unity in diversity are not just concepts but reality and that gave us hope." "While making this film, we didn't want to remind people of the devastation during the disaster. Instead, we focussed on the unity and the love and compassion we saw during that time," he added. 2018 is a human story, a story based on a real calamity and how it brought a community together. It is a sort of film that has not worked at the box-office for most film industries - including the Hindi and Telugu film industry, hence filmmakers focus on creating a larger-than-life spectacle films to lure the audiences back to cinema halls. However, the Malayalam film industry has stayed away from any such trends, focusing instead on smaller and rooted stories that have universal emotions and are made on a tight budget without compromising quality. When asked about this shift in filmmaking post the Covid-19 pandemic, Tovino says "new wave" is always in the making and people will "get bored" of big spectacles too. He says, "As far as I know it (the shift) happens every now and then. It is a cycle. People will watch the big spectacle audio-visual experience only for a while and then they'll get bored of that too and look for realistic slow movies and the filmmakers will start making such movies for a while, then a new trend will kick in." View this post on Instagram A post shared by TovinoThomas (@tovinothomas) Tovino the spoke about how he takes movies personally, as it is not "just about the box-office numbers" in the times when films' success is usually measured by the money it makes. "At least for me cinema is not just about box office numbers. For me, a hundred years after my death, the art which I have done will remain. So it is not just money, not just box office figures, but at the same time, I believe that cinema is successful when it entertains people because it is an entertainment medium. Also, it should also have artistic value, it should get critical acclaim as it is an art medium. However, in the art of filmmaking money is involved, a producer shouldn't go bankrupt after backing a movie. So a film should have artistic value, should be entertaining and make money for it to be called a success. Even if it loses on one part, then it is failure."
Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 2:29 am