Finding ‘Rizana’ in a new face from Hatton
Vidushika Reddy from Kotagala, Hatton, is Rizana.
Vidushika Reddy at the launch
At the title reveal on Tuesday at the Cinnamon Grand of ‘Rizana – A Caged Bird’ – Chandran Rutnam’s latest film now being shot in Sri Lanka, the young actress playing the lead role is on stage in the company of Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons and popular South Indian star Varalaxmi Sarathkumar. The striking twenty-year-old is bashful and understandably nervous under the scrutiny of many eyes– it is the first time she is stepping fully into the limelight.
Director Rutnam and her co-stars are warmly supportive of how she is handling her difficult role for Rutnam’s film is based on the horrific true story of Rizana Nafeek who left her village in Muttur in the East, aged just 17 to work as a housemaid in Saudi Arabia. Convicted in 2007 of murdering the four-month-old baby who was in her care after the infant choked while being bottlefed, Rizana was executed in 2013 despite many international appeals for clemency on her behalf.
Talking to the Sunday Times at the launch, Vidushika says she could relate to the role – and portray Rizana with understanding because of her own situation – her mother Anushiya has worked as a housemaid for some seven years. She left two years ago to Kuwait again as her husband is unwell and money is needed for his treatment as well as for her daughter’s education.
Vidushika says she feels she is Rizana, deeply conscious of her innocence and the emotional sufferings she had to face every time she steps into the role. “I think of how she would have faced each situation.” Her own mother is also constantly in her mind – remembering the stories she would tell her.
“My real character is also very sensitive and emotional,” she says, adding that her young life too has not been without difficulties.
Born in the hill country town of Nawalapitiya, Vidushika an only child, grew up in Hatton where her father ran a small “dress business and salon”. She went to an international school as well as Kotagala Tamil MV, but her schooling was
interrupted and she sat for her O’Ls only a few years ago, she says. A dual citizen of India and
Sri Lanka, now following a course in English at the British Council in Kandy, and a foundation course at the Open University, she is keen to pursue higher studies, perhaps film related.
She has appeared in two commercials this year and her family, initially vehemently opposed to her getting into films have now gradually come round to the idea.
For Director Rutnam the idea of making a film on Rizana had been on his mind for some five years and when he happened to meet Jagath Sumathipala of Sumathi Studios, it all fell into place.
Rizana’s shocking fate is also what prompted an international star of Irons’ stature to come to Sri Lanka and act in a film which they all hope will bring more awareness of the sufferings faced by so many thousands of migrant workers the world over.
Irons plays Julian Miles, a British human rights activist and Varalaxmi, a dentist, Dr. Rani Chelvam, both of whom tried to help Rizana through her imprisonment.
Introducing the film, producer Jagath Sumathipala of Sumathi Studios traced his family’s proud involvement of over 50 years in film-making and said he hoped this film would take Sri Lankan cinema to the international level. Director Rutnam expressed his gratitude to his old friend for taking on the project. Then followed a panel discussion with producer, director, script writer and editor James Rutnam, the two stars and Vidushika, hosted by Savitri Rodrigo about the film.
With stars Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Jeremy Irons. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Irons said he had some memories of the story in the news twenty years ago, adding that it was a story which continues to this day.
And in the 20 years… things have not changed much all over the world, he said sombrely.
“And I thought this was a story we should make. Often we can’t make things much better but maybe you can ….Maybe this story will bring to light this international situation and warn people from poorer backgrounds of the dangers that could lie ahead and give some thought to those who are in a situation of working, sending money home and having no rights. Give them a voice.”
Praising the script, Irons said it was beautifully written. “It’s a great story but it’s also very well told.”
For his part, asked what his biggest challenge in bringing the story to life was, scriptwriter James Rutnam, said it was to do the research to find Rizana’s true story. “There is a responsibility to get the facts right.” Once the movie is released, people turn to the movie to get the facts, he pointed out. His hope is that Rizana will not be invisible for she represents the plight of thousands of other women.
A star of Tamil and Telugu cinema who uses her voice to advocate for women without one, Varalaxmi, said her role of Dr. Rani Chelvam was very close to what she does in her own life. In the film, “she bridges the gap between Julian Miles and Rizana to understand each other better……. she gives her support and shows her a little kindness.”
There was something that was pulling me towards the character, she said, reiterating the sentiment that some stories have to be told. “Not many get a chance but the ones that we can tell, then we tell.”
Introduced on stage as the new face to Lankan cinema, Vidushika, said that when she auditioned she was “not hopeful at all but both Mr and Mrs Chandran Rutnam decided I was the right girl for the role.”
Visibly moved as she talks of the execution scene they had shot just the day before, she said, “it felt like it was happening to me.”
Director Rutnam added he had looked at so many young actresses for the role and was on the verge of signing one when Vidushika came to their office seeking an audition. He was keen on a new face but also needed someone who could portray the many emotions that Rizana would have felt. Both his wife Nihara and he felt that even though Vidushika had no acting experience, she was right for the role.
Asked about filming in Sri Lanka, Irons responds, “It teaches me that film is the same the world over, the process is the same, the language may be different … .
“As humanity, we are all the same – we all have hearts and souls and loves and passions and sorrows. And that is why this will be an international film because it speaks about the heart, it speaks about sorrow, it speaks about injustice,” he said.
‘Rizana –A Caged Bird’ is due to be released later this year.
See TV Times for more on the film
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