MADURAI: As the yawning children of Virudhunagar whine for one more bedtime story filled with brave warriors, their grandmothers fondly relent and re-tell the local lore of Arikandi in hushed tones. Just as they have heard this tale traverse through the lanes of hamlet for decades, they assure the starry-eyed children that this heroic transperson deity will protect them from any terror or nightmare.
The children doze off with dreams of the intense stand-off between Arikandi -- a master of traditional martial arts -- against Kangapuram Jamin. She bares her swords, protecting the daughter of Mangalapuram Jamin from the clutches of the other Jamin. While this story -- dating back to 350 years ago -- does not appear in history textbooks or written script, it is fresh in the minds of locals.
S Solu (30), a physiotherapist, who plays Arikandi in the movie, said she was able to relate to the character as she is also from the same village. The trailer for the 30-minute short period film ‘Arikandi’ was screened to an enraptured audience at The American College in Madurai on October 15.
“Director Priya Babu convinced me to take up this challenging role. After committing to the project, I trained for one month, learning sword fight, Silambam, and Kalari with proper guidance,” says Solu, adding that the fight scenes were shot without stunt doubles and that they utilised real swords. Post-production, Solu felt her confidence had steadily grown.
“This film is an honour for transpersons, and it will acquire respect for the community,” remarks the physiotherapist. The film is a testament to the fact that when society creates opportunities for transpersons, they can also do something in return, she says.
The plot took root in the mind of 52-year-old filmmaker and co-producer Priya Babu, a member of the trans community, when she read ‘Muppidathi’ by Kaniyan Selvaraj, which chronicles the family deities of the Pandya kingdom. After one long year of research, and 15 days of continuous shooting, this short flick took shape.
The background music was crafted with great effort, and care, says Priya, an activist, and counsellor. Priya is no stranger to art and writing; she also runs a library (Transgender Resources Centre), a book publication firm (Trans Publications), and film production (Trans Film Company).
Apart from Solu, other new faces from the community were cast in ‘Arikandi’. The film aims to raze down stereotypes that abound in regional film narratives. “In Tamil cinema, the portrayal of transpersons is insulting, or their experiences are underplayed. But this treatment is slowly changing with films like Kanchana and Thimiru Pudichavan. There is a necessity to tell people about the role transpersons have played in our history,” states Priya. A standard will be set for cinema and society with the short film and after the release, transpersons will be called Arikandi, she says.
“For the common audience, the movie will give a different perspective of the transperson community. This movie will make every transperson walk with their head held high,” says Rambo Kumar (40), associate director and the film’s villain. His perspective, too, on the trans community changed after working together with Priya. “We have all become a family now, as she participates in all functions at home,” he adds.
According to historian RK Vikarama Karna Pazhu Vettarayar, “In the era of kings, transpersons were known for their loyalty. They often were posted as palace guards or frontline warriors in the war. In 800-850 AD, Adithya Cholan employed ‘Adhikarachi Padai’ (transperson warriors) in their wars.” As co-producer, he adds their family deity, too, was a transperson. When Priya pitchedthe story idea, he supported the team, added inputs to the script, and designed the costumes for the roles.
P David Suresh (34), editor and technician of the film, says that the film has much more grandeur than a short film. The director gave them the freedom to work their magic, he says adding that they have used 10-15% CGI to enhance it. As the short film is set to release on OTT platforms, negotiations are buzzing among the crew regarding the release date.Meanwhile, Priya is back on the drawing board as she has plans to bring in more minority representation and sketch out female-centric stories.