Poet and filmmaker Leena Manimekalai plans to make an independent movie on the life and times of legendary poet Kamala Das. Leena took to her Facebook account to reveal that director Kamal, who has announced a Malayalam biopic of Kamala Das, had originally asked Leena to play the lead role in the project.
She said, “The life of a poet is not that interesting a topic for cinema. But, Kamal wanted to make a film that was suitable for Malayalam movie audiences. To this end, I sent him a script that I’d written with my translator friend, Ravi. Kamal felt that it was radical, and asked me to tone down the script to make it suitable for all audiences.”
Leena was also asked to learn Malayalam to play Kamala Das in Kamal’s film. “He told me I looked just like Kamala.”
But once the film became a big-budget project, Kamal apparently told Leena that she had been replaced with actress Vidya Balan. When Balan walked out allegedly due to right-wing pressure, actress Manju Warrier was brought in.
Leena now hopes to begin production on her Kamala Das biopic later this year.
Feature Image Courtesy: Leena Manimekalai’s Official Facebook Page
