As 'Manjummel Boys' rocks BO, Venu offers a flashback into Kamal’s daring shoot in Guna caves 3 decades ago

As Malayalam movie 'Manjummel Boys' makes waves at the box office and vrooms into the Rs 100-crore club within just 12 days of its release, a Tamil movie released three decades ago is also trending, thanks to the Guna caves, which forms the backdrop of both.

Kamal Haasan starrer ‘Gunaa,’ which hit the screens three decades ago, prompted a renaming of the caves in which it was shot to Guna caves, a setting exploited to the hilt in 'Manjummel Boys' directed by Chidambaram S Pothuval. But few know there were two Malayalis involved with the Tamil film Gunaa– cameraman Venu and scriptwriter Sab John.

Venu opens up to Manorama Online on the shooting experience in the original Guna caves along with the legendary Kamal Haasan. He also lauds the 'Manjummel Boys' team.

Gunaa’s first helmsman
Sibi Malayil decided to helm 'Gunaa' as Sab John was already part of the project. However, Sibi lost interest as Kamal Haasan started taking charge of the film. That is how Santhana Bharathi was brought in to helm the movie. He also didn’t have much role as a director in Gunaa. It was a Kamal show.

Heading to the caves
Kamal sir took us to show a cave near the Pillar Rocks. We were nearly eight crew members, including director Santhana Bharathi. The terrain was tough to navigate. The vehicle could barely reach a place after which we had to go by foot. We saw the smriti mandapa when we reached there. That was a memorial for Chempaka Nadar, who died in 1952. I recollected that I had been there an year ago with Beena and my daughter. The path to the cave begins after you cover 100 yards.

We entered the caves after we received special sanction. We had to go down using a rope ladder. Many of our teammates left after seeing that. A small group, including me and Kamal Haasan continued our journey. By the time we got back, those who had not come with us had decided that a shoot was not possible there. Director Santhana Bharathi fell down because he felt dizzy. People who accompanied us said we should not even think about shooting in that place. A seemingly disturbed Kamal sir asked me if it was impossible to shoot in the caves. I told him it would be a difficult task, though not impossible.

Credit to Kamal
It was a highly risky shoot. We didn’t have the expertise to shoot at a place like Guna caves. We shot by exploring the available possibilities. The path to the caves is beautiful. But we couldn’t shoot that as the equipment and ropes were all kept in the pathway. We skipped several spots due to these issues. Also, since there were no battery-charged lights then, a generator was always necessary. We somehow managed to overcome all these hazards. Only a motley group of crew members were there for the shoot, and hence they had to put in maximum effort. We considered ourselves lucky that we could get back alive after the shoot. It was difficult to erect the camera at many places in the caves. Kamal sir would always find a way to sort that out even though I would raise objections. Guna happened only because of Kamal’s determination. The credit should go entirely to him.

Getting back, alive

It is difficult to fathom the scene in the caves. There were many deep potholes all over the place. Kamal would lead us examining the place with a stick, and we all would follow. When it rains, the down pour would accumulate in the caves. The leaves were all strewn there along with mud till our thighs and we had to manoeuvre through such a terrain for the entire shoot. The place was somehow filled with Methane gas and an eerie scent pervaded. We had no clue why, though Kamal could grasp it. When someone tried to light a matchstick, Kamal jumped to prevent it. He knew it would spread fire as methane would accentuate it. It would not be an exaggeration to describe shooting in the caves as a suicidal act, not merely a risky one. The only thought was to somehow wind up the shoot and pack off.

Smriti mandapa turns into a temple

Chempaka Nadar’s memorial slowly turned into a temple. At the first day of the shoot, someone kept a small flower there. Many people began to follow suit. Slowly, it became such a ritual that the crew would only enter the caves after praying there. People were wary about the shoot in the caves. So after reaching the sets, everyone would have breakfast and then go to the memorial with a flower and pray. You can perhaps imagine how scared people were. It took around two hours to keep everything ready for the shoot. And we had to finish the shoot by 2 pm to get back before dusk. In the end, we had to leave many things behind after the shoot and climb back, Venu reminisces.