In a heart-warming incident of the reel inspiring real, the film Oopiri has motivated Sujatha Burla, a television personality establish an organisation for the differently-abled, ‘Challengers on Wheels-Celebrating Life’. The film’s director Vamshi Paidipally and Nagarjuna Akkineni took time to interact with the community recently. The actor, during the brief interaction, famously corrected the host in calling them ‘wheel-chair friends’ instead of patients.
From hosting one-to-one interactions to usher hope into the differently-abled community, it took a strong push from her friends Arvind Dundoo and Anjana Reddy to start the association. Being flooded with calls from friends right after Oopiri released, watching it herself later gave her the right impetus to found the group. “The film exuded a lot of hope, showcasing the possibility of a dignified life on wheelchair too,” she, a former TEDx speaker states.
Sujatha, a quadriplegic having lost her leg in an accident 15 years ago when she was on a trip to Shirdi, never quite needed a motivator like Seenu in Oopiri (played by Karthi) to feel strong. Having lost her father barely three years post the mishap, she has been living alone, earning for herself since a decade now. She dedicated five years of those for a television talk show where the viewers initially had no clue about her disability. It was only later that they had any idea about it.
“Many callers kept sharing their stories and found a resonance with me. Beyond that, I had a few friends yes, when my career was indeed happening. But, my strength comes from all the people who turned me down and weren’t even there to talk to me when I needed them the most.” After watching the film and the positive vibes it generated, she’d interacted with the film director on hosting a get-together with the differently-abled community. He was more than welcoming in bringing Nagarjuna on-board. The event brought in a lot of cheer to the group that shared several inspiring success stories with the Oopiri team.
One among them was Arvind, who was particularly impressed by the way, the makers of Oopiri highlighted the daily troubles they face, despite opting for a commercial cover. “It echoed our thoughts in getting out of home, breaking monotony and going to the places we always want to.
Though there were more issues like bed soars, body stiffness and rehabilitation they could have dealt with, the performances were too good to not appreciate it,” Arvind who met his ‘phone-friend’ Sujatha at a movie screening said.
On a practical note, they know a movie can’t bring a drastic change in their lives overnight. “A 10 per cent of the people will now feel motivated to help us, treat us normally. If a common man takes an effort to spend their free time and talk to us, that’ll do the job,” he’s hopeful yet pragmatic.
