As Dr Smith enters the hospital, he is greeted by dozens of journalists rushing to him with questions. He evades them with a wave of his hand and goes in to meet his patient.
'Executioner,' some shout at him.
He turns. 'No, I am not an executioner, I am only obeying court orders,' he says.
Thus begins the shooting of Jayaraj's Malayalam film Atbhutham, at 11.46 am.
Malayalam superstar Suresh Gopi played a Dr Warrier in Jayaraj's last film Makalkku. In Atbhutham, he is again a Warrier, but this time a patient.
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Gopi plays a man suffering from pancreatic cancer. Unable to bear the excruciating pain, he -- with the help of his young wife and his attorney -- gets permission from the State to put an end to his life, and the pain.
For Gopi, it has been an emotionally draining experience. Every time Warrier, who is a playwright, meet his parents and his dear ones, Gopi also goes through the ordeal emotionally.
It has been a physically draining experience too. He is bedridden throughout the film, with tubes protruding out of all parts of his body. Warrier is unable to speak too -- his trachea is pierced. He communicates by writing on a pad.
To finish the shooting of the entire film in just five hours, Jayaraj and his team have been toiling really hard for the last six days. To ensure a glitch-free D Day, they have had four full days of rehearsals, followed by two days of real shooting.
Jayaraj is very particular that nothing should come in the way of Atbhutham setting the world record of shooting a film in five hours. He is using lengthy sequences, like in a play, and not short scenes.
Atbhutham's sets don't look like those of a Malayalam film at all. Except for seven Malayalis, all the other characters in the film are from different parts of the world.
Dr Smith, Warrier's doctor, is from Sweden; his attorney is a Black American from London, whose mistress is a French woman; Warrier's nurse is a black American woman and so on.
Warrier's father Raghava opens the door gently. He is meeting his son after 20 years. His son writes on the pad, 'Achcha (father), you have grown old.' Tears well up in the old man's eyes as he starts conversing with his son. As the father is about to leave, the son writes, 'Achcha, I am scared.'
Raghava kisses his son gently on the forehead and weeps silently. Tears start rolling from Suresh Gopi's eyes too. He has not used glycerine at all in the entire film. He says every time he sees his dear ones and they plead with him to continue living, his eyes well up.
Suddenly, a Red Indian man appears in front of Warrier. 'Our race has been wiped out and we have been pushed out of our land. Is that not pain? You think only you have pain? Is your pain graver than ours? What right do you have to end your life which the almighty gave you?' the man dramatically asks Warrier.
As the perplexed patient looks on, the man goes away.
Dr Smith arrives to end his patient's life. What will be Warrier's decision? Will he say 'no' to his doctor? Or, will he end his life?
You will know that only when you watch the film.
But the film will, in all probability, spark a debate on this controversial subject.
It is 2 pm when the shooting gets over. Atbhutham, a feature film, has been made in just two hours and 14 minutes!
Photographs: Shobha Warrier
