Finding light in the darkness

The 13-minute short film shows that disability is not a deterrent

It isn’t a brand new short, but its poignant message continues to draw the serious viewer, who looks for substance in a story.

Disability needn’t be seen as a deterrent, if you decide to believe so, the short conveys. One sure reason for Oliyum Oliyum , directed by Guru Carlmarx, having been officially selected for screening at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival (CSAFF) in October last!

The title that translates into ‘Light and Light’ (not ‘Light and Sound’) helps you guess the subject of the short film. Yes, it’s about the love, marriage and parenthood of a visually challenged twosome.

There’s no sorrow about not being able to see. For the most part, the couple takes it in their stride.

Salony Luthra, who debuted in Tamil with the feature film, Sarabham , and J.S. John are the protagonists. The beautiful heroine is a bonus for the beholder.

Challenging portrayal

Neither actor reveals mannerisms or body language you normally get to watch in films where characters with such a challenge are portrayed. And the best part is till almost the end of the 13-minute rendezvous, the couple shows no self-pity.

Madhushri, who sells knick-knacks, and Seshadri who (ironically) runs a light shop, hit it off even the very first time they get talking. They may have lost their vision but their self-confidence and zest for life are immense.

Soon bonding begins. Madhu is an orphan, and in a quiet but dignified way she conveys to Sesha that she rather not talk about it. Again, no histrionics, just a statement of fact!

They fall in love and soon get married. A year later Seshadri is waiting outside the maternity ward. He is called in and when the baby is born the immediate question of the angst-filled dad is, “Will my son be able to see?”

The nurse’s reassurance that everything is fine with the baby makes him laugh, and also regret, for probably the first time, his challenge. Performance wise John is just about apt. Salony scores better.

Dialogue in Oliyum Oliyum is another appeal-enhancer – be it humour, the callous attitude of some of us in society, towards the challenged lot that is made evident through the crudeness in their utterances and the witty exchanges between the lovers are examples.

The dialogue writer is the inimitable Kannadasan’s grandson and actor, Aadhav Kannadasan.

And finally come the appeal and need for eye donation. The details that roll down on the screen are disconcerting.

That every third person in the country is visually challenged, that we have 15 million blind people among us, that every year three million people develop cataract and that we have two million blind children are disturbing statistics indeed!