Merku Thodarchi Malai’s director Lenin Bharathi wants to use his film to shine a spotlight on the struggles of the landless. “I wanted to take the movie to common people and show them the struggles of the landless people. I believe that good reviews at festivals will help draw people into theaters,” he said.
In a free-wheeling chat with Manorama Online, the director says he has tried to document a fast-disappearing way of life where man used to enjoy a love-hate relationship with nature. “I wanted the movie to be an authoritative record of the interwoven lives of cardamom farmers and the Western Ghat range and I spent four years in the making the movie.”
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Lenin’s film is produced by Vijay Sethupathy and has music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. “At a time when producers were funding only fully commercial projects in Tamil cinema, Vijay Sethupathi agreed to produce this movie. We were friends from the time we did Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu. So, when I narrated a part of the movie and asked him to put me in touch with producers interested to do small movies, he told me to start off the work,” he added.
Lenin Bharathi intends to begin his next project after the release of Merku Thodarchi Malai.
“It will be a city-based subject, which will deal the struggles I saw after migrating to Chennai,” he signed off.
Pic: On Manorama