‘Visaaranai’ is India’s official entry in the Foreign Language Film Oscar category
‘Visaaranai’ is India’s official entry in the
Foreign Language Film Oscar
category
Visaaranai (Interrogation) a Tamil movie directed by Vetrimaaran is representing India in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars.
Chandran’s first novel Lock Up changed his life — it was adapted into movie Visaranai by director Vetrimaran under the banner of actor Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films.
Visaaranai was chosen from among 29 entries, including Dhanak, Udta Punjab, Thithi, Sairat, Umrika, Neerja, and Nil Battey Sannata. The Tamil movie is the third National Film Award winner in the past three years to be picked as the official Indian entry after Liar’s Dice and Court.
India has never won in this category. Only three films have been nominated in the list of fine five films that compete for the coveted honour: Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan (2001).
Author |
Visaranai is the based on the novel written by an auto-rickshaw driver, M Chandrakumar, popularly known as Auto Chandran. He wrote the book based on the police brutality and corruption that he suffered in his early life.
M. Chandrakumar,
whose novel ''Lock Up'' was adapted into ''Visaranai'', is elated the film is going to Oscars.
Story |
In 1983, Chandran was locked up along with his three friends in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, where they were subjected to brutal police treatment to accept a crime that they never even committed.
However, Chandran survived to tell the tale. Decades later, based on the advice of his friend, he wrote the novel, which was adopted for the big screen by National Award-winning filmmaker Vetrimaran.
Actor Dhanush may have played the lead character in the film, if he wasn’t busy with his Bollywood project at that point in time. However, Dhanush still decided to be part of the film. He gave his consent to Vetrimaran to produce the film under his home banner Wunderbar Productions even before fully hearing the story.
Awards |
In the 72 year history of the Venice International Film Festival, Visaranai became the first Tamil movie to premiere in the competition segment. Besides receiving a standing ovation, the film also bagged ‘Cinema for Human Rights’ award at the event.
The film also won three prestigious National Awards, including best Tamil feature film and the award for best editing went to Kishore Te, while the best supporting actor went to Samuthirakani. It has also won the Amnesty International Italia Award 2015.
From the Author | Source: The Hindu
Chandran’s life is not the same any more.
Although he continues to drive his auto in the streets of Coimbatore, his circle of friends and admirers has grown manifold.
“I have interacted with over 10,000 college students so far,” he adds.
He feels like he has been extremely fortunate.
“What more can a writer ask for?” he states.
Chandran started writing Lock Up in 1997, based on his experiences as a helpless young man in Andhra Pradesh.
Chandran was picked up by the police in a case of doubt and spent two torturous weeks in a lock-up.
The atrocities he faced under police custody scarred him so much that even writing about it years later took an emotional toll on him.
“I finished writing it only in 2002, and it was published in 2006,” he recalls.