In fact, we have a number of movies and documentaries based on the infamous 2002 Gujarat riots. For instance, let's take actress Nandita Das' directorial debut Firaaq, slated for release in October! The film deals with the trauma of violence on human relationships after a series of communal riots between Hindus and Muslims, killing more than 1044 people including those killed in the Godhra train fire.
Vilapangalkkappuram (Beyond the Wail), directed by Malayalam filmmaker T. V. Chandran, is yet another offering on Gujarat riots. In this film, he speaks particularly about Muslim women victims. “I visited these women five years after the notorious riots. They were still in camps, after suffering serial rapes and other inhumane atrocities. They lost their men and their land. But their spirit was intact,” Chandran said.
The story of Vilapangalkkappuram revolves around a young girl Zahira, whose Keralite father was running a luncheonette in Ahmedabad during the riots. The rioters ransack his shop and kill him. They rape his wife and daughter, dump them in a well and set fire to their bodies. But Zahira luckily escapes from death and reaches Kozhikode where she is further haunted by religious fundamentalists. Finally, she escapes back to Gujarat to fight for the rights of the women victims.
The director revealed that he faced stiff opposition in Gujarat while shooting the film there and was forced to shift his location to Mysore to complete the film, which is in fact a sequel to Kadhavaseshan that deals with a plot in the backdrop of Gujarat riots.
Vilapangalkkappuram is a third venture by Chandran whose first film was Padom Onnu: Oru Vilapam, for which Meera Jasmine won the National award for the best actor (female).
Written and produced by Congress party leader Aryadan Shoukath, the film features Priyanka, Suhasini, Biju Menon, Thilakan, Gopakumar, Sreeraman, Indrans, Praveena, Zeenath, Santa Devi, Nilambur Aysha and N K Raveendran in the cast. M J Radhakrishnan cranks the camera while M Jayachandran has set score to Girish Punthencherry’s lyrics. The film is expected to be an August release in India and abroad.
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