A short film that breaks stereotypes

Sujatha Balakrishnan describes herself as “64 years young”. She sounds chirpy and her voice oozes energy. Sujatha dons many roles. She is a wife, mother and grandmother, and professionally, she is a teacher, counsellor and theatre practitioner. In 2014, she started Theatre For Change.

“The aim was to use theatre to address issues and create awareness of our social responsibility,” says the teacher, who trained in the US to be a counsellor. “I volunteered in a school there and observed that children with special needs were an organic part of the society. Even a child on a wheel chair attends a regular school. We need to learn these things from the West and not just ape the wrong things.”

A still from the film

Sujatha goes on to add: “We normally think that children with special needs lack emotions and feelings. We are so wrong. When I returned to India, I would always ask myself, why can they not attend regular schools and become an organic part of our society? I am not against special schools. They are doing a brilliant job. Such schools, however, tend to isolate the children from the rest. And as a psychologist, I feel that affects them,” says the counsellor, who has been aggressively fighting for the inclusion of special children into the main stream.

“We spoke about that in our pilot project, a skit titled UdaanI, which was staged at the Orion Mall amphi theatre. We also roped in a borderline autistic child to play the protagonist as I felt it was not right to get someone else to play the part. We faced ridicule for that choice, but we were adamant. Even the audience was amazed at the brilliant job that the child did”.

Her latest project is a Tamil film, Vamsama Paasama. “It means love or lineage in Tamil. The film portrays the challenges faced by the protagonist, Lakshmi, in a patriarchal society. The film rejects the myth that parents attain moksha and the lineage grows only if a male child lights the funeral pyre of the dead parent. The protagonist also has an abusive childhood and yet musters the courage to live life on her terms.”

The film, Sujatha says is loosely based on her life. “When I lost my father, I was told not to go to the crematorium. Being a rebel, I not only went to the crematorium but also lit the pyre with my brother. I said I was equally my father’s daughter and had the right to light his pyre. That was my first act of defiance. I am not a hardcore feminist, but I do believe in gender equality.”

Sujatha, was honored with a Lifetime achievement award by Ooruni Foundation for her work.

The making of the film

Most of the themes she tackles on stage and screen are ideas practiced by her and her family, she says. Most of the cast includes actors from the Bengaluru theatre fraternity. The short film has been selected to be streamed online though the dates are yet to be announced.

Being a psychologist also helps, Sujatha says as it teaches you to listen to the other side of the story too.

Apart from Sujatha, the film features Lakshmi Sunil, Sridhar Ramanathan and Chand Belani and is directed by Lakshmi Sunil. Vasudha Prahalad is the cinematographer and the film is produced by Chand Belani Productions and Theatre for Change.