KOCHI: She may well be locked up in her house like the rest of us, but Leela Santhosh is ecstatic. The 35-year-old filmmaker’s short film ‘Paikinjana Chiri’ (The Laugh of Hunger), which offers a glance into the life of a pregnant tribal girl from the forests of Wayanad, was recently released on YouTube by renowned Tamil filmmaker Pa Ranjith to an overwhelming response. The film is produced by Dravida Entertainments, a group of young cinephiles based in Kochi.
“It’s time we start telling our own stories,” says Leela, who belongs to the Paniya tribal community of Wayanad. “For far too long, people have been looking at us from the outside. When they make movies about us, we are stripped of a voice. Through my films, I want the world to know what we truly are, not the caricatured or romanticised versions of us.”
She had gone through a painstaking casting process to zero in on her lead characters, Sindhya Vishwanath and Suni R S, and she knows she made the right choice. “The reviews I have got so far for the film have been wonderful. People have personally called and texted me to let me know their appreciation.” Leela bagged the Best Director award at the Kino International Film Festival (KIFF) Indore 2019, for the short film. “I wanted ‘Paikinjana Chiri’ to reach the mainstream audience, and I’m so glad that Pa Ranjith released it. He has also been a huge inspiration to me, so much that I consider him a guru”.
Madhu’s hunger
The film makes an explicit reference to Madhu, a tribal man who was attacked and killed by an angry mob in Kerala about two years ago, allegedly for stealing a few handfuls of rice and coriander powder. “Madhu’s murder had shaken me to the core. He was hungry. There is no emotion more universal and innate to human nature than hunger. Yet, he was killed for acting on that hunger.” Though many documentaries and short films were made on the incident later, the narrative always seemed to be about ‘him’ and ‘us’, Leela points out.
“They are talking about ‘Madhu’s hunger’–a tribal’s hunger, and refuse to acknowledge the universality of it. I wanted to address his plight through my film.”Leela’s decision to shoot the film in the Paniya language was also well thought out. “More often than not, tribals in films are seen speaking gibberish, which is problematic. Why can’t a tribal character speak in his own language? Even if he speaks in Malayalam, it will seem artificial. I was sure from the get-go that my characters will speak Paniya,” she says.
On ‘Karinthandan’
Two years ago, Leela had released the first look poster for her maiden full-length feature film ‘Karinthandan’, with actor Vinayakan in the lead role. Legend has it that Karinthandan, a tribal man, was murdered by a British engineer after he helped the latter find the shortest route between Kozhikode and Wayanad through the challenging Thamarassery Ghat. “We are still on the lookout for producers to take up the movie. ‘Karinthandan’ is a historical, period movie. So, I need a little more time to study him and his life properly, before bringing him to the big screen,” she says.
Challenges galore
“Ever since I started watching films, the art of direction has intrigued me. But as a woman and an adivasi, I have faced challenges in the field. This is innate to the cinema industry. Everyone has their struggles here.” But Leela is not one to let these struggles beat her down. Her determination and grit are enough to clear the hurdles in her way.