Divine Intervention

The ritual usually takes place in the open, or when the heat is searing, under a white tent. Sometimes the chanting is audible, sometimes not, depending on the man who's responsible for soliciting the gods from the 31 cosmic worlds to bear down to the feast propped up by humans. The serpent Naga is summoned, as is the avian Kinnaree. The gods must be propitiated and fed. Only then can the cameras roll and the director can direct, confident now that the gods are on his side.

Photos by Anusorn Sakseree

It sounds like a scene from a supernatural movie but it is not; rather, it is something that precedes every movie and TV shoot. Perhaps it's only in Thailand that the ceremony is observed with such solemnity and rigour by the usually chic showbiz people. The Brahmin rite is a necessity for studio execs, directors, stars and crew who seek comfort from the divine before they go into the set.

Usually, practitioners of traditional Thai arts, like puppetry, masked dance or muay Thai, must perform the wai kru rite _ paying respects to the teachers _ before going on stage. The same philosophy seemed to have trickled into the relatively recent art of movie-making. Since the early days, Thai film actors and directors came from the stage, but along the way, the rite morphed into the act of asking the assembly of Indian gods, especially Ganesha, the protector of artists, to come down from their abodes to bless the operation. Like other ceremonies in Buddhist Thailand, the Brahmin influence lends mystique that is sometimes synonymous with luck, confidence and moral uplift.

''The studio executives and directors want to go onto the set without worries. They want the operation to be smooth,'' says Sophon Chuwatsawasdi, who has performed the Brahmin ritual for television and movie sets for 10 years _ though he's not ordained as a Brahmin.

''It's a way to boost the morale of the crew, to give them the confidence that the shoot will be accident-free. For the executives, the rite also makes them feel that the movie or the TV series will be a financial success.''

Brahmin rites are common here. They are performed when a new building is inaugurated, or when a homeowner wants to install a shrine. Sometimes ordained Brahmins host the ceremony; it's believed that the ''holier'' a Brahmin is, the better _ and the higher the fees. But there are also laypeople who've studied with Brahmins and are trusted to perform the Brahmin rites.

Late last month, Sophon presided over the ritual before the shooting of a new TV series, Jed Prachanban, which is adapted from an old Thai film from the 1960s. The ceremony, pictured here, took place at the studio of Channel 3 in Nong Khaem. It was a well-attended event with a number of stars, as well as the director and respected family members of Sor Asanajinda, the late actor who created the original film.

As tradition goes, every Brahmin ritual begins with pinpointing the auspicious time, rerk. Usually, it's the time ending with the number 9, say 10:39. Before the designated moment arrived, we witnessed Sophon create nam mon taranee sarn, or magical water, by lighting a candle and letting the melted wax drop into a silver bowl. The water would be given to the film crew to sprinkle at the location of the shoot to ward off bad spirits that might disrupt the filming.

Then it was the rite of wai kru, paying respects to the teachers, with 15 joss sticks, which is intertwined with the act of paying respects to the gods who rule the eight directions, from east and rotating clockwise.

Next, Sophon chanted the prayers and proceeded to invite the gods from the 31 worlds according to the Brahmin belief. The purpose is to gather all the gods at the site of the ritual, and Sophon asked the assembly to allow Ganesha to preside over this invisible meeting of the divines. In short, Sophon is a mediator between the gods and the humans who're asking for their favour.

Curiously, the items laid out on the propitiating table _ besides the food and floral offerings _ also consist of a copy of the screenplay and a digital tape to be used in the shoot. To bless them with the power of the gods, Sophon put gold leaves on the screenplay and the tape, thus consecrating the physical materials to be used in the movie. Then the director and actors lined up to throw fragrant flowers at the shrine.

The food, interestingly, was without meat _ definitely not a pig's head. This is because Ganesha is the Elephant God, so humans must entreat him with the food preferred for elephants, including sugarcane, coconut, pineapple, beans, bananas plus other sweets and fruits. ''Meat is for sacrificial rites, which is not what we're doing,'' Sophon said.

The final step of the ritual, he explained, is to wait for the gods to enjoy the food on the table. Then Sophon chanted another prayer to send them back to their respective abodes.

Supernatural belief has always been part of mainstream Thai showbiz, and even if the effects are only largely psychological, that's more than enough for the practitioners.The first day of shooting is usually timed to the lucky moment calculated from planetary movements, and sometimes even the release date of a movie is predicted by an oracle. Tradition and past figures are well-respected; for instance, when a movie is remade from an old film starring Mitr Chaibancha, the legendary Thai actor who died when he fell from a helicopter while shooting in 1970, the actor who would play the role once played by Mitr has to light joss sticks and pray to his spirit, preferably at his shrine erected where his body fell 40 years ago.

''You could say it's superstition, but it's also wisdom,'' says Jirasak, who declines to give his full name. Jirasak's father was an ordained Brahmin, and he, who isn't ordained, now performs Brahmin rites for movie sets.

''The ceremony cannot guarantee that a film will make 100 million baht, that would be too easy!'' he says. ''The ceremony calms the mind of the people involved, it works as something people on the set can cling on to.

''It's like when you have a sacred tattoo, would it save you from a bullet? Maybe not. But it gives you the confidence, the will, the strength to go out and face the world.''

Food and floral offerings to Ganesha, the god of artists, laden the table at a recent Brahmin ritual to mark the first day of shooting of TV series Jed Prachanban. Sophon Chuwatsawasdi (far right) performs a Brahmin ritual which includes the blessing of a screenplay and a shooting tape (right).

Relate Search: Jed Prachanban, Sophon Chuwatsawasdi