A long-time activist friend of writer D. Jayakantan’s has been roped in by filmmaker S.P. Jhananathan to write a song set in jail for his yet-to-be released film, Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai .
The song — written by lyricist Parinamam — conceived as a mild dig on the Indian judicial system has been picturised on inmates celebrating their annual day inside the jail. “It is satire. I was told by the filmmaker that the song has to be unique in reflecting life inside jail,” says Parinamam, who has written in earlier films made by the filmmaker. As someone who spent around 60 days in Madurai jail as a ‘political prisoner’, Parinamam says he has used his experiences to write the song.
“I went to jail after I participated in the ‘Land to the tiller’ protest in the 70s. The song is being sung by the inmates and as you know, some of the greatest of men have been in jail in history. Jails often offer much-needed space and time for reflection about the state of things,” he says. Asked what kind of insights he had incorporated into the song, Parinamam says he wanted to focus on how the system incarcerates people on the basis of laws written by the British.
“There is a line about how all inmates are united because of the Indian Penal Code, which was written by Thomas Macaulay, an Englishman,” he says.
Parinamam, who is in his 60s, says though he is not into active party politics, he still sings songs about the ills of private property. The album has been composed by debut composer Varshan. The film is likely to release on May 1.
