THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When a road accident occurs, bystanders are supposed to help the injured or at least call an ambulance. But, how many people really stop to help the accident victims? Often victims are left to fend for themselves and die due to blood loss.
The short film ‘Rathri Ottam’ directed by Jais Abraham deals with a subject, which is relevant where road accident victims often lose their lives due to the ignorance of people who fail to help them. “Inspired by a viral message circulating on WhatsApp, this film conveys the message that people often make justifications and move on when they witness a road accident. I conceptualised the theme to create awareness about the need to help accident victims,” said Suryajith Kattappana, who wrote the concept for the film.
The 10-minute-long film showcases an incident where two friends are travelling on a bike. On the way, they encounter a drunk group of youngsters rash driving. The car hits a man and they leave the spot. The two friends see the man lying in a pool of blood. One of them agrees to take the man to the hospital but the other refuses lest they fall in trouble.
On reaching homes, the friend realises his father has not reached home. Thinking the accident victim might be his father, he rushes to the hospital.The director has weaved the story in a different way where he tries to project that accidents can happen to anyone. “Accident victims often die due to blood loss and the delay in taking them to hospital. I have come across a bike accident in Thodupuzha in which the victim lay in a pool of blood but was conscious. He was taken to the hospital only after many hours.
However, he breathed his last. The doctor said he had lost 90 per cent of his blood,” said Sijo Everest, producer.The team has done other short films on the theme of road safety and the environment. They are planning to release a short film on Madhu, a tribal man who was killed last year.The film is distributed under the Collective Frames. The screenplay dialogue is done by Suryalal Kattappana, DOP by Aby Everest and music by Saji John.