Monologue (Ananataram)

‘This is a film about storytelling,’ says Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Ajayan, the protagonist and narrator, tells us the story of his own life, going over it repeatedly in an attempt to discover and reveal himself, picking and choosing moments and memories to create, each time, a fresh but logical, effective tale. The cyclical structure (‘in the form of a monologue’) and open ending reflect the endless possibilities of creativity. ‘Ananataram literally means "and then". A storytelling device . . . The film examines creative expression as a process of perception, selection and arrangement of experience . . . it is in recapitulation that the experience becomes meaningful and complete,’ says the director.