Creating documentaries, his life and passion

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  For N C Senan, camera has remained his best friend for years. The man, a native of Sreekariyam in the city, has used his tool to speak about subjects close to his heart. That would include documentaries for children, on nature, lives of eminent personalities like Chattambi Swami (which won much appreciation) and so on.But where a city is grappling with issues on waste management, Senan’s five documentaries on environment make his works noteworthy. Senan, who has assisted the renowned filmmaker S Sukhdev during his prime days, has  five environment documentaries to his credit. All dealing with pollution of one or the other kind. While his four documentaries which dealt with water pollution, Vilappilsala waste issue, environment and sanitation and medical waste were done for Doordarshan, Thiruvananthapuram, the last from his kitty was for the Indian Medical Association (IMA). The documentary is on bio-medical waste disposal and shows the way bio-waste is treated at the Palakkad plant of IMA.  Senan, who has assisted filmmakers like Ramu Karyat, K Sethumadhavan and Aravindan, has been in the field for more than three decades now. He has won the ‘Nana’ award for excellence in direction for a tele-documentary ‘Oru Kunjum Aanadhamakarathu’ (‘No Child Should Be An Orphan’) in 1996. He has directed three short films, ‘Rajaveedi’, ‘Oruvakku Paranjenkil’ and ‘Chakram’ for Films Division, Mumbai. He has directed a documentary on Chattambi Swami, which is claimed to be the first on the Guru that dealt with his life and teachings in a wholesome manner.  Though, in between, he tried his luck in films, it was always documentaries that came his way. But the man has not lost hope. ‘’Many people who started with me and who could not make it big, left the visual medium in between. But, I recognised that this was my true calling, that’s why I have been consistently doing documentaries and keeping my passion alive,’’ says Senan.  Senan has been associating himself with cinema periodicals and has been panel member at Doordarshan and Films Division, Mumbai. He could be contacted at 9446794966.