Shuttling between arts and politics

KOCHI: A man who does not find any difference between arts and politics, Jose Thettayil is a politician who always cherishes music and cinema in his heart.  For this representative from Angamaly, a politician should have to conceive the heart and mind of the people just as an actor conceives an idea, life and action of a particular character. And a good artist is one who conveys the ideas and makes others convince what he is enacting. “Just like this is a politician who after conceiving the heart and mind of the people conveys the problems and issues of the people to an appropriate forum,” he says when City Express met him at his house in Angamaly. Director of two documentaries and having acted in four films, Thettayil says he was lured into films and music even from his childhood. The songs that came out of the loudspeakers of the cinema theatres close to his mother’s home was an inspiration to him during his younger days. Yet again, musician Mathayi Asan was staying close to his home. His songs had also given him the first rhythms of music.  A film enthusiast, Thettayil says he used to regularly go for films even when he was a school student. “Mostly films from Tamil, which had MGR, Shivaji and Soundararajan, were screened at the theatre,” Thettayil says and adds he used to have discussions with his friends about the films.  The interest for films gradually increased and the film reviews that came in the Mathrubhumi weekly augmented his interest. Thettayil also remembers his days in Mumbai when he used to visit his mother’s sister there. “The Mumbai days were an opening to Bollywood and English films,” he says.A memory of his college days that he recaptures is his association with mega star Mammootty. “While studying in the Law College, I used to take Mammootty along with me to see films,” he remembers. On his entry into acting, Thettayil says it was after his short course on appreciation at the Pune Film Institute after getting inspiration from none other than Adoor Gopalakrishnan that he got a chance to act in films. Very much active in films, he was an organiser of the All-Kerala Film Societies, which had Adoor Gopalakrishnan as its president. A man who has also studied guitar under the guidance of Douglas, who was Yesudas’ guitarist, he had to give it up owing to his studies. But Thettayil has no regrets as he has found solace in singing. On his entry into politics, he notes that politics was within the four walls of his house. His father was a member of the Kothakulangara panchayat and leaders like Panampilly Govinda Menon and Saddiq Ali used to visit his house. “They came to my house not because of my father being a politician as at that time he had resigned from active politics. As there were no hotels in Angamaly at that time, the leaders used to come to my house for refreshment,” he says. Entering active politics during his stint at the Law College, he says Congress leader P A Mathai was one who had brought him into the political arena. But Emergency was a turning point in his life when he was expelled from the Congress for siding with the Young Turks. “I was part of the radical group in the Congress. Some of us in the Congress had associated with M N Roy, Jayaprakash and Ram Manohar Lohia even before the time of Emergency,” he notes. Walking and cycling are the two things that he has not given up even at this age. “Everyday I go for walks that helps me to interact with the people and to know their problems,” he says. As a representative of Angamaly, Thettayil says many projects were in the pipeline but the present government has not given any funds to implement them.