KOCHI: “I grew up seeing my mother eating alone in the kitchen, being summoned by my father and the children for everything. This inspired me to come up with a movie,” says Vasanth S Sai, director of Tamil film ‘Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengalum’, screened at IFFK.
The director began his career as a director in 1990. A voracious reader, he had read all three short stories that were adapted into the film ‘Sivaranjini and Two Other Women’ before 1995.
The director believes in making an impact on society with his films. “Quite many viewers gave a good feedback; They came to see me and compared themselves to the characters of the movie. This gave me immense pleasure as it proves the originality of the story,” says Vasanth.
The director has tried to portray the dreams of women shattered in the androcentric society. Songs are insignificant in the movie. Talking about the same he says, “I wanted to portray the message to the audience through self-expression rather than adulterating it with music.”
He talks about the reason for his women characters not standing up to their male superiors. “The first movie takes place in the ‘80s; Women were not allowed to speak up during those days. The character Saraswathi pointing her index finger towards her husband in itself is a notable thing,” he says.
Furthermore, the third story ends with Sivaranjani who finds satisfaction in running behind a school bus. “I didn’t want to add much fiction to the real story. The audience can find out whether she will continue her athletic career or not,” he says.
Talking about the cast, he says, “I took a fair amount of effort while choosing my cast as we cannot cook up the real-life stories. For example, Sivaranjani played by Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli, is herself is a cricket player and a sprinter. “ The film won the award in the Gender Equality category at Mumbai Film Festival.
The Tamil feature film is all set to release in two months. The movie portrays three different women in three time periods-1980, 1995, and 2007. In the first part set in the 1980s, Saraswathi (Kalieaswari Srinivasan) is scared of her husband (Karunakaran). But after a hiatus, she loses her tolerance and tries to stop her husband from hitting her. The second part has Devaki played by Parvathy Thiruvoth, with the year 1995 as the backdrop. The third story takes place between 2015 and 2017. Sivaranjani played by Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli is an athlete.
The film is inspired by the short stories written by writers Jeyamohan, Adhavan and Ashoka Mithran. The movie gives a real picture of the challenges faced by women. The location of the film is limited to four walls but the message is global.