Feature film on Marina uprising

The movie titled Jallikattu, which is the directorial debut of Santhosh Veeg, is set for release in August. The film will be made along the lines of a docu-drama, using the original visuals from the Jallikattu protests which will be woven into the stories of five youth who had participated in it. “All those appearing in the movie are the ones who participated, propagated and popularised the protest. My film is a search to find out what really made such a large number of youth take up the cause. I know it was certainly not just Jallikattu,” said Santhosh, who is now busy with the film’s post-production work.

Santhosh first visited Marina out of curiosity, with little idea of what was really going on. “When I was standing on the beach, a policeman in mufti approached me and asked for the leader of the protest. I told him that I had no clue. Then suddenly all lights went off and the people gathered lit up the skies with their mobile phones. That was an amazing visual, which reminded me of a scene from Mohamed Diab’s Clash,” Santhosh said.

“I did not plan to turn this into a movie. Later, my curiosity to know more about who participated in that protest, gave me the idea of a feature film. I am also trying to explore the music and the creative element behind this protest and of course without dismissing the carnival spirit behind it,” Santhosh added. The movie is produced by Nirupama, an MOP Vaishnav alumna and Ganapathy Murugesh, a California based engineer and founder of Tamil Mandram. It will be premiered at the Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi, in August, before its state-wide release.