“When you hear all those tales of child abuse and trafficking of women and young girls, you always think it happens to others. That ‘it will never happen to people like us’. The truth is that ‘it’ can happen to anybody,” says activist Sunitha Krishnan as she introduces her film Ente .
The story is her everyday life, the bestiality that she comes face to face with during the course of her work. The story, screenplay and direction are by her husband, Rajesh Touchriver. This film is, incidentally, Rajesh’s first outing as director of a commercial Malayalam film.
The film’s script, which is based on a true story, has been culled from the experiences of several young girls lured into the flesh trade. The explicit nature of the experiences of the young girls made their job tough, they say. They were clear about not indulging in visual voyeurism. For which there was plenty of scope as the girl was subjected to every kind of violation. “A lot of things had to be said. There is no point in being explicit because then the purpose of the film would be defeated,” Rajesh says.
The purpose of the film, according to Sunitha, is to create awareness about the dangers young girls face. At the same time make a film which would get people in, not a dark film but a “paisa vasool” film done tastefully. “It is a kind of film that I can sit and watch with my five-year-old nephew. It is a family thriller,” Sunitha, the producer says. She says they decided to produce the film because they couldn’t find a producer (“they wanted masala”) and no distributors. It was all for the best, says Rajesh because it gave him the freedom to work at his pace. The film has been shot at real locations and setting up the cameras for which was a challenge.
The bi-lingual film, produced by the couple, stars Siddique, Marathi actor Anjali Patil, Neena Kurup, Lakshmi Menon, Anoop Aravindbesides others. The music is by Shantanu Moitra and Sharreth. The tentative date for the film’s release is December 21.
