The trailer of Uyirvali, a 52-minute Tamil documentary about the life of Perarivalan, a death row convict arrested in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, was released here on Monday. The trailer is soon to be uploaded at the website saveperarivalan.com, said activists from People’s Movement Against Death Penalty (PMADP).
The activists of PMADP Chennai Chapter who recently created the website, to campaign against capital punishment, are now in the process of bringing out a documentary about the life and case of Perarivalan. “The film will provide details of Perarivalan’s legal battle during his imprisonment of more than two decades” said Selvaraj Murugaiyan, coordinator of PMADP, Chennai.
Pragadiswaran, the director of the documentary, said, “We took Perarivalan’s legal battle as a case study in an effort to work against death penalty as a whole.”
Speaking about the film Arputham Ammal, mother of Perarivalan, said, “Even after 22 years of detention many people across the State, the country and the world do not know about Perarivalan. We thought that people around the world should know about him and his legal battle against death row.”
“We are in the process of releasing the documentary through television networks. Since it is being released through television, no censor clearance is needed,” said Murugaiyan.
Noted film personalities and activists such as poet Thamarai, poet Thamizhachi Thangapandian, film directors R K Selvamani, Va Gauthaman and Kayalvizhi were present during the release of the trailer.