‘I am not scared to write what people need to know’

Chennai

Actor-screenwriter Lakshmi Devy’s new film When The Music Changes has been lauded during its festival rounds and revolves around survivors of sexual assault. “When The Music Changes is an ode to the kind of music people play in their heads — music that no one else could listen to in different times. So, in the film it’s about a creative, happy girl whose music is ruined after becoming a victim of a toxic society, and the music changes,” she begins. Lakshmi says that the topic of rape and sexual assault is global. “It has always been a global problem. However, how different countries deal with it has a substantial difference. Hence, the aspect of it isn’t something new. It is a topic that has been associated with patriarchy. Men not only need to stand up for women but also for themselves. You will see this in When The Music Changes. I have two nieces one is a seven-year-old and the other one is a one-year-old and I cannot let them grow in a word where excuses are made. We live in a world where we cannot share if we are raped. We can say if someone stabs us, but can we if it is rape? People would start judging us, which is a mental assault as well,” she explains.

Lakshmi says that she got hold of the idea from people she saw around her on daily basis. “The interesting part is there are people who are mentally assaultive. They make us doubt our own existence and what we are worth. It is a huge issue, which made an interesting line in the story,” she adds. Anyone would have expected Lakshmi to have directed yet another comedy film after a successful comic caper like Masala Padam. “My previous film Daro Mat was also around a similar topic. I am a fearless writer and I am not scared to write what people need to know. I enjoy travelling a less travelled road,” she concludes. Adith Arun, Naveen George Thomas, Shreya Navile, and Vignesh Shivasubramaniam play important roles in the film. The cinematography of the movie has been done by Abinandhan Ramanujam.