CHENNAI: It was an incident unknown for a fortnight after it happened, but created a sensation that remained etched in memory for decades after, largely because of the brutalities involved. The Vachathi assault case, in which adivasi tribes were assaulted and brutally manhandled by forest, police and revenue personnel in the eponymous hamlet in Dharmapuri district in 1992, will soon be captured for the silver screen. Shooting for the film, titled Vachathi, will begin in the cursed hamlet at the foothills of the Sitheri Hills, on November 21.
“It was an idea that germinated more than a year ago, when I wanted to make a serious film. I waited for the judgment to be delivered in September this year, and then finalised my script,” says Ravithambi, the director of the film. Casting new comers predominantly, the film is the debut venture of producers Selvakumari and Rathnaramesh, under the banner of Kumari Talkies and Rathna Films.
“Vachathi, the movie, will focus on the life of a girl who is a victim of assault during the 1992 incident, and how the ghosts of that sour incident continue to haunt her future post her wedding,” Ravithambi says. Most parts of the movie will be shot in Vachathi, where elaborate sets to recreate the hamlet as it were two decades ago are being erected. “In order to ensure accuracy in the portrayal of the villagers and the turmoil they underwent, I have had elaborate discussions with the locals, policemen, politicians and advocates involved,” he said. Ravithambi has directed films like Rickshawthambi and Uyire Ennodu Kalandhuvidu in Tamil.
Ask him how he hopes to convince the Censor Board of Film Certification officials who have had reservations with previous films on sensational cases, and he says he has garnered the support of over 700 supporters to help him in this regard. “These social workers say they will protest to see this film released. This is a story that needs to be told,” he says.
The Censor Board had earlier prescribed more than 40 cuts in a film on the Cauvery water issue, Thambivudayaan, while it initially refused certification for the film Nellu on the Kilvenmani massacre.