CHENNAI: “Eppo amma TV on pannuvanga? (Amma, When will they turn on the TV (read: movie screen)?),” asked a little girl dressed in pink. She was excited as she had played a short role in the movie that was to be screened. Eagerly, she sat among her friends at the LV Prasad College of Media Studies on Friday for the short film, her eyes glued to the screen.
The film focuses on the pen once held and owned by late chief minister M Karunanidhi and the revolution it created. This 15-minute movie opened with an AI shot of the leader saying, ‘En uyirukkum melana anbu udanpirapugalae (A love greater than my life for my fellow beings)’.
Schemes like pricing a kilo of rice at `1, equal inheritance for men and women, free bus service for school students, the right for people from any religion to become temple priests, and the right for a chief minister to hoist the national flag on Republic Day, among several others, were highlighted. A dialogue from the movie goes, “It was Kalaignar’s pen that signed and sanctioned all these rights. That is the power of a pen”.
Understanding the pen’s importance and inspired by the proverb, ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’, writer-director Raja Chellamuthu shot this short film, Kalaignarin Pena. At the event, he also launched two books — a book with 68 short stories, and another short story on societal differences. The 68 stories, published by Vanathi Publications, are part of a collection of 2,000 short stories. The tales revolve around various social issues such as gender inequality, women in the workforce, health, and many more. Another book on societal differences tells the story of two individuals belonging to different classes of society, set in the times of Covid. They fall in love and struggle to convince their parents.
Film director and screenwriter K Bhagyaraj, who started his career like Raja, shared, “I used to write short stories for Tamil magazines. That is how I built my career. Raja Chellamuthu is on the same path, and he is a great writer. All these two thousand stories will be a great resource for directors to read and adapt into screenplays. This work will inspire many.” Concurring, veteran director SP Muthuraman shared, “Raja sent me his writings on WhatsApp and left me in wonder with his amazing work. People from the industry should make use of his talent, dedication, and acknowledge his hard work.”
Anybody can write, but to use words in a way that impacts many is the need of the hour, remarked writer Udhayam Ram, writer at Nam Urutha Sinthani, a monthly magazine. “It took me just seven minutes to read 12 of the 68 stories. And all these stories address more than one issue. They make you think about the problems,” he said.Writer and journalist Nakeeran Gopal urged the young adults to write more and use the pen as their tool to fight injustice and unfair practices. “Kalaignar used his pen to fight immoral actions. A temple should be built, and his pen should be worshipped as a God,” he concluded.