True to its title, director SA Baskaran’s debut feature, Mei, which hit the screens last week, is based on true events. The filmmaker says he wanted to bring to light the underbelly of the medical world.
Once he got Aishwarya Rajesh on board, Baskaran worked on converting his one-liner into a story with the help of his good friend Sentha Murugesan.
An assistant of Jeethu Joseph during the Papanasam days, Baskaran tells us the best thing about that experience was the chance to work with Kamal Haasan. “I learnt so much, primarily that there is no such thing as a simple take. And this really helped with my debut. I stored every minute detail in my mind before the shoot.”
The choice to make his protagonist a woman medical rep (Aishwarya) in a male-dominated profession was a conscious one, he says. “I penned the script keeping her in mind. The content needed a strong-minded but not headstrong character. She feels the onus is on her to reveal the darker side of the hospital, having met the top brass in her professional capacity.”
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Baskaran, too, feels strongly about the issue. “Humaneness has taken a beating in the medical profession, and it is up to the individual to take up the issue. Patients should not be taken for granted when they are at the total mercy of the doctors. Also, we have a meek tendency to settle the bill without even a cursory glance at the itemisation,” he says.
“However, much as I would have liked to send a message or two at the end, I was committed to showcasing the happenings and letting the audience decide. I spent a good while gathering the facts and have presented it in a fair manner.”