Abroad, the award I cherish most was at the Tokyo International Festival, 2001 - in their 25 years of screening, it was counted as among the 10 Best Asian films. After the Fukuoka festival, it was called back for the Tokyo festival; and was shown as among the 10 Best Asian films of the past 25 years. This, I think is a great honor. And Japanese audiences could relate to the tradition versus modernity conflict they saw in Agnisakshi. The Japanese society too is going through a similar turbulence - industrial progress on one hand and spirituality on the other - the two co-exist in an uneasy harmony. Perhaps that's why they took to the inherent quality in the film.

The again, their Buddhist tradition of austerity found echoes in the character of Unni Namboodiri, who was well liked by them. Many have got back to me on this; and Agnisakshi remains a much talked-of film in their midst.

Another thing I found in interesting was when the film was shown in Cairo. It was shown at the Cairo film festival in the competitive section. There again, amidst a Middle Eastern society, the film simply 'cut through'. And I realized that here's a film that's not simply a family tale set in a Namboodiri household in faraway Kerala; at the time of the freedom struggle. The story has a universality and timelessness that transcends all boundaries. It is the tale of a relationship between 2 people - of how society, the times and destiny - all leave their scars on the relationship.

So the success of Agnisakshi is due to the universal appeal of its story.

Interviewer:

Awards, accolades came searching for Agnisakshi. Featuring leading lights of Indian cinema, such as Rajat Kapoor, and Shobhana; Shyamaprasad's Agnisakshi is a historic success. A film such as this has never been made ever; and won't either in time to come. We eagerly await the young director's next film. Until then, goodbye.